Thiruvananthapuram, August 12: Gearing up its health machinery after the first swine flu fatality, Kerala today drew up an action plan to check the spread of the pandemic but said there was no need to panic.
After attending a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, Health Minister P K Sreemathi told reporters that the government had set up special wards in five medical colleges and district hospitals with ventilator facility to treat the affected persons.
Steps had been taken to prevent further spread of the disease and also to provide effective treatment, for which the government set apart Rs two crore, she said.
She said more screening centres for the disease had been set up in 25 locations including some private hospitals.
Testing centres would be set up in all the 14 districts.
As part of awareness campaign, special meetings would be held in educational institutions on August 17.
Meanwhile, the private hospital which had treated Wilson Lukose, the first H1N1 flu victim in the state, denied charges by his relatives that there was laxity in treating him.
The relatives of Lukose, who died last night, claimed they were not informed about the seriousness of the disease in time and created a ruckus in front of the hospital today.
During the day, Dr Srivastava, Director, Union Health Ministry, visited the General Hospital and Medical College Hospital here where H1N1 cases were being treated.
—PTI