Ahmedabad, October 31: With Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi testing positive for the swine flu virus, the state health and family welfare department as well as the staff of the Civil hospital in Ahmedabad have been on their toes for the past 24 hours. Modi is the 297th person in the state to test positive for swine flu.
According to a health bulletin issued by the health and family welfare department on Friday, Modi’s health is stable and his blood pressure and fever are under control. The doctors involved in the swine flu tests for the chief minister spent the entire night at the microbiology department of BJ Medical College. The bulletin, which is being issued twice a day to provide updates on Modi’s health, said he will be kept in isolation for around a week.
A source said that the staff members of the microbiology department of BJ Medical College have been working day and night since Modi’s samples were sent to its laboratory, while also testing all those who came in close contact with the chief minister, including the delegation that accompanied him to Russia recently. “The eight members of the delegation of industrialists have been tested for the swine flu virus, but are all negative. The tests for the rest are going on,” the source said.
The staff of the Civil hospital also said that there had been great pressure and fear of declaring the Gujarat chief minister positive for swine flu among the doctors concerned. However, no senior official of the hospital agreed to share any information on Modi’s reports.
When contacted, Dr MM Anchalia, superintendent of the Civil hospital, said she was unaware of any development with regard to the matter and that she could not comment on the same. “I do not know if the chief minister has tested positive for swine flu or not. You can call the state health and family welfare department for details,” she said.
According to the health and family welfare department, Modi has been placed under the observation of a panel of five doctors formed by Drs Atul Patel, AK Patel, Asha Shah, Kamlesh Upadiya and Pranav Vora.
–Agencies–