Eight more swine flu deaths in Maharashtra, toll reaches 178

Swine flu claimed eight more lives in Maharashtra today, taking the toll to 178 this year.
Besides, 134 new cases of the disease were detected today, taking the count of the affected people to 2,139, a health department official said here.
"Out of the total of 452 patients currently in hospitals, 40 are in a serious condition and have been kept on a ventilator," the official said.
The state government had provided ventilators, and cardiac monitors, etc., alongwith facilities like isolation wards and intensive care units at hospitals, he said.
"The government has procured enough stock of tamiflu, and government hospitals across the state have been equipped with ventilators and N 95 masks for H1N1 patients," he said.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had recently said that private hospitals had been asked to treat the swine flu patients free.