Twelve new cases of swine flu were reported in West Bengal in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of infected to 146, a senior Health department official said today.
There was no report of any death due to the disease, Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) department Moloy Dey told PTI.
Nine out of the 12 tested positive for the H1N1 virus were from the city while one each were from the North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and Howrah district, he said, adding that in the last 24 hours, nine persons were released from different hospitals after their recovery.
Meanwhile, Peerless Hospital & BK Roy Research Centre today became the first private hospital in the state to get the state government's nod to conduct tests for the H1N1 virus, a senior health official said.
So far, the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) was the only state-run medical centre to conduct tests for swine flu.
"Peerless has fulfilled steps one facility needed to conduct tests for the H1N1 virus. They have got the approval from the Atlanta-based Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)," he said.
Incidentally, at NICED, tests for the H1N1 virus-infection were conducted free-of-cost irrespective of the patients' financial background.
