Maha Govt orders closure of Pune schools,colleges,theatres

Grappling with rising swine flu cases,Maharashtra Government on Monday ordered closure of schools and colleges for a week in worst-affected Pune.

Grappling with rising swine flu cases,Maharashtra Government on Monday ordered closure of schools and colleges for a week in worst-affected Pune,where three persons have died,while theatres and multiplexes will remain shut for three days.

“All schools,colleges and private coaching classes in Pune and neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad would remain closed for seven days,” District Guardian minister Ajit Pawar told reporters here. “We will compensate for it by reducing Diwali holidays by a week,” he said.

Schools and colleges should use this period to get their premises disinfected and sterilised,Pawar said. The minister said theatres and multiplexes in the city will also remain shut for three days. 14-year-old Pune schoolgirl Reeda Shaikh who died on August three in Pune was the first swine flu fatality in the country. Sanjay Tukaram Kokre,a 42-year-old teacher,succumbed to the virus on Saturday while Babasahib Mane,an ayurvedic doctor,died in Sassoon Hospital this morning.

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On the three H1N1 deaths in Pune,Pawar said,”Had the patients been given immediate treatment,they could have been saved. They were admitted to the government hospitals very late,after first going to private hospitals.”

Three swine flu patients in Pune’s Sassoon hospital are in critical condition,he said. So far,778 persons have been admitted to various hospitals in Pune,of which 135 who tested positive for H1N1 virus have been discharged after treatment,he added.

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