Maha Govt orders closure of Pune schools, colleges, theatres

Pune, Aug 10 (PTI) 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 Monday morning.

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. PTI SSG
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