More hospitals & labs for swineflu treatment in Delhi: High Court told

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court was today informed that 26 hospitals and 11 labs have been designated in the national capital to deal with swine flu outbreak which has claimed 10 lives in the city.

Responding to a PIL seeking establishment of multiple testing laboratories in Delhi and reduction in the cost of swine flu tests, the Centre and the city government informed a bench headed by Chief Justice G Rohini that steps are being taken to effectively deal with the disease.

The counsel for Centre told the court that three government labs were performing swine flu tests free of cost and adequate measures have been taken to mitigate the impact of the disease.

It said that out of total of 19,972 cases of swine flu in India, 107 deaths have been recorded till February 28, while in Delhi 2,891 cases of swine flu have been found out which 10 deaths have been recorded.

The city government, in its 22-page affidavit, said that in view of the recent upsurge of the cases, the number of hospitals and labs for treating and testing the virus has been increased to 26 and 11 respectively.

Earlier 22 hospitals (17 government and 5 private) had been designated for treating and admitting patients with seven designated labs (three govt and four private) for testing H1N1 was in place, it said.

The high court has now fixed the matter for next hearing on March 18.

The affidavit, filed by Delhi government standing counsel Zubeda Begum, said that to ensure easy availability of antiviral medicine Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) in the capital, Drug Controller of Delhi government will issue 40 more licenses to chemists to make the capsule available and "there was no need of panic regarding the drug".