Three more persons died today due to swine flu in Punjab taking the death toll due to the disease to 26 in the state, while two more deaths were reported in Haryana where the toll touched 17.
"According to the latest reports, 26 persons have succumbed to H1N1 in Punjab so far," said Deepak Bhatia, State Surveillance Officer of Punjab Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme.
He said that a maximum number of six persons have died in Amritsar district.
Out of over 165 suspected patients of swine flu in the state, 71 have tested positive so far for the H1N1 virus, the official said.
In Haryana, swine flu has claimed 17 lives this year while the number of positive cases has reached 116, Haryana's Additional Director General, Health Services, Dr Kamla Singh said.
As part of the Centre's guidelines issued to combat the flu, health workers have been asked to screen people with symptoms of the flu on the basis of their severity and categorise them, Bhatia added.
Bhatia said an advisory has been issued to both government and private schools to send students showing symptoms of swine flu on a five-day leave.
"The instructions have been issued to all government and private schools in the state in this regard," he said.
Students of all the schools and colleges would also be monitored on a daily basis, as per the guidelines issued to educational institutions, he further said.
Meanwhile, health officials of both Punjab and Haryana maintain that the situation is "under control" and hospitals are well equipped to take care of patients and there was no need for panic.
