Gujarat: Swine flu death toll mounts to 88

With swine flu claiming seven more lives today, the death toll in Gujarat since January has gone up to 88, an official statement said.
Apart from the seven deaths today, 87 new cases were also registered in different parts of state, taking the total number of H1N1 infection cases to 831, the statement said.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leaders, led by Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Assembly Shankersinh Vaghela, today met Gujarat Governor O P Kohli and handed him a memorandum urging the government to take steps to control the spread of disease.
Vaghela was accompanied by other Congress MLAs and leaders, including former LoP Shaktisinh Gohil and president of Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee Arjun Modhwadia.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Vaghela alleged Gujarat government was not doing enough to curb the epidemic.
"On the one side, government tells people to stay away from crowded places, on the other side, they are organising programmes like 'Vibrant Gujarat' and 'PlastIndia', which attracts lakhs of people at one place. Government is actually pushing people into the jaws of swine flu," alleged Vaghela.
He said that it was shameful on the part of Gujarat government that death toll has crossed 80 in the state.
"Swine flu has spread significantly in Gujarat during the last five years. Our Governor has assured us that he will draw the state government's attention to the matter," Vaghela said.