413 swine flu cases in UP, toll mounts to 11

The death toll due to swine flu in Uttar Pradesh today reached 11 while the number of people infected with the contagious disease soared to 413, prompting Allahabad High Court to direct the state government to immediately provide medicines and masks to people.
The state capital alone accounted for 326 cases, a health department official said.
"60 new patients of H1N1 virus have been detected in Uttar Pradesh. Of them, 53 are from Lucknow, three from Unnao, two from Varanasi and one each from Agra and Kanpur districts," he said.
With this the total number of cases in the state has gone up to 413, the maximum of 326 being reported in Lucknow, where leave of all the health department officials has been cancelled, he said.

Meanwhile, Allahabad High Court while hearing a PIL today asked Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary (Health) of UP to provide medicines and masks to people within two to three days to shied them from swine flu.
The Lucknow bench comprising justices Imtiyaz Murtaza and Ritu Raj Awasthi passed the order in an open court and also observed that schools and colleges should adopt preventive measures.

The court also asked the Central government to provide full help to the state and make available medicines and masks.
According to the health department sources, 1,098 patients were screened. Of them, 413 have tested positive while 11 persons have died so far due to the H1N1 in the state.

The deadly virus has affected 19 districts. Six deaths have been reported from Lucknow, two from Kanpur and one each from Saharanpur, Bareilly and Badaun districts.
The state government has directed the local bodies and municipal corporations to launch a cleanliness campaign throughout the state.