New Delhi, August 21: The spurt in swine flu deaths continued today with four fresh deaths reported including that of a CRPF jawan, the first fatality in security forces, taking the nationwide toll to 48 even as Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad lashed out at states for “forgetting their duty” in containing the spread of the disease.
CRPF’s Y S Rao died on August 14 at SIMS Hospital in Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh and his swab test yesterday confirmed he was suffering from the virus infection, officials said.
A 47-year-old man died in Chennai last night, while a 26-year-old woman, identified as Lakshmi, and Gayatri, 23, fell to the infection in Bangalore.
Lashing out at state governments, Azad said they have “forgotten their duty” even though the Centre was stretching itself to the maximum limit to contain the disease. “This is the maximum limit we could stretch ourselves to. Beyond this the state governments should shoulder their responsibility which they haven’t done,” Azad told a meeting here.
With the latest flu deaths, Karnataka now accounts for 12 fatalities while Maharashtra has reported the maximum of 22 deaths. Five people have died in Gujarat, three in Chhattisgarh, two each in Delhi and Tamil Nadu, and one each in Kerala and Uttarakhand.
On the other hand, 138 fresh cases of swine flu were reported from across the country taking the total number of those afflicted by the deadly virus to 2,539.
—Agencies