Chandigarh, Nov 25: Two more students of the Punjab Engineering College (PEC), Sector 12, have tested positive for swine flu. After being shut for a week, classes at the college had begun a few days ago.
Of the 21-year-old victims, one lives in Sector 11, Chandigarh. The second student lives in the Himalaya hostel in campus. Both have been quarantined.
With these cases, 16 PEC students have been affected with the virus so far.
Total number of positive cases in the city, meanwhile, has risen to 125. Five more samples from the city were sent for testing on Tuesday.
School presses panic button
The Ryan International School in the city issued a circular on Tuesday, directing all students to come wearing masks on Wednesday.
The circular led to protests, with surprised parents calling up the school authorities. One on them said: “The school’s action is not prudent.
If authorities are so keen to save children from the infection, they should either close the school or suspend classes which had positive cases.” Earlier, a few positive cases were reported from the school.
Later in the day, the school decided to withdraw the circular. According to sources, this was done under pressure from parents.
While the school principal was not available for comments, her spokesperson admitted that the circular was issued but it “would be withdrawn tomorrow”.
2 more test positive in Mohali
Two persons have tested positive for H1N1 in Mohali, taking the total number of positive cases in Mohali to 16. Swine flu nodal officer Dr Deepak Bhatia said a 45-year-old woman of Sector 68 and a 14-year-old girl of Sector 71 have tested positive.
With this, total number of positive cases in Punjab has gone up to 57. So far, two persons, in Mohali and Ludhiana, have died of swine flu in Punjab.
Two persons die in PGI
Two persons have died of swine flu in PGI. One of the victims is from Hoshiarpur, Punjab, and the other is from Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
According to health officials, 51-year-old Jagdev Singh of Tutu Majra village in Hoshiarpur, was referred to PGI by Apollo Hospital in Ludhiana.
Doctors at the PGI said he arrived in critical condition late in the night on November 22. His throat swab samples were sent for testing on November 23. But before the results came, he died.
The second victim, Amandeep (42), was admitted in extremely critical condition on Monday. She died at 2 am on Tuesday.
So far, six persons have died of swine flu in the city, including a 17-year-old girl from Panchkula.
–Agencies