“In districts reporting a high incidence of flu and fever, instructions have been issued to set up separate OPDs for such patients,” said deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak said this during a review meeting on swine flu preparedness across all 75 districts on Saturday.
The deputy CM also directed officials to educate patients and attendants at hospitals about the importance of wearing masks, maintaining hand hygiene and following proper cough etiquette. The deputy chief minister also inspected the HOPE (Health Online Parameter Evaluation) monitoring system at the health directorate in the presence of additional chief secretary (Medical and Health) Amit Kumar Ghosh, director general of medical and health services Dr Pawan Kumar Arun and state surveillance officer Dr Vikasendu Agrawal. Gautam Buddh Nagar has reported the highest number of cases at 189, followed by Lucknow (113), Meerut (54) and Ghaziabad (32). These four districts account for nearly 70% of the state’s total cases. Muzaffarnagar and Bulandshahr have reported 11 and 10 cases, respectively, state surveillance officer Dr Vikasendu Agrawal said during the meeting.
The health department said people who have been in contact with patients suffering from influenza-like illnesses or respiratory infections should be started on antiviral medication promptly, as advised by doctors, if they develop symptoms.
