Pregnant woman dies of swine flu; Pune toll rise to 26

Pune, Aug 29 (PTI) A 28-year-old pregnant woman has
died of swine flu in Pune (in India's western state of
Maharashtra), taking the toll by the viral infection in the
city to 26.

Roopali Jore, who died Friday night, had been put on
ventilator after her admission to a private hospital on August
20. She had tested positive for the virus, officials said.

With cases of the viral infection continuing to pour
in, Pune District Collector Chandrakant Dalvi has appealed to
private hospitals to screen the patients who approached them
with flu symptoms and not to summarily direct them to the
already overburdened civic and government hospitals.

He also asked people to avoid crowding at public
places and Ganesh utsav pandals in the city, the worst hit by
the influenza virus in the country. PTI