New Delhi, Septeber 30: Seven swine flu deaths, including four in Karnataka, were reported Wednesday, taking India’s total toll to 316, health authorities said here.
Also, 197 new influenza A (H1N1) cases were reported in the country, taking the total number of people affected with the virus to 10,233.
Two deaths were reported from the national capital – one from the Safdarjung Hospital and the other in a private hospital.
The death from the private hospital was reported Tuesday but the laboratory confirmation came Wednesday, authorities said without giving any details.
The toll in the Indian capital has now gone up to 13.
Four deaths in Karnataka took place earlier but were confirmed to be due to the contagious virus Wednesday. With this, the toll in the southern state has jumped to 96 – the second highest in the country.
One death was reported from Andhra Pradesh, taking the state’s toll to 34.
Officials said two more deaths were recorded in the state, but laboratory confirmation will tell whether they were due to swine flu or not.
The highest death toll has been recorded from Maharashtra where 120 people have succumbed to the virus since the first death was reported in India Aug 3 in the state’s Pune city.
“Till date, samples from 42,731 people have been tested for influenza A (H1N1) in government laboratories and a few private laboratories across the country and 10,233 of them have been found to be positive,” a statement issued here said.
Delhi recorded as many as 58 new cases, taking the total number of people affected with the virus to 2,739.
Maharashtra reported 46 new cases.
Of the 10,233 total cases in India, Maharashtra alone has 2,827 positive cases, authorities said.
The other new cases were reported from Tamil Nadu (25), Karnataka (13), Kerala (13), Haryana (12), Chandigarh (12), Andhra Pradesh (9) and Goa (1).
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there were more than 300,000 laboratory-confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 till Sep 20. As many as 3,917 people have died globally.
–Agencies