HYDERABAD: Even with increasing number of swine flu deaths in the state, police continue to conduct drunken driving tests, ignoring doctors’ warning and putting citizens at risk.
As many as 629 people have been tested positive for swine flu so far this year and 31 people have died due to the virus. And 35 more tested positive for the virus on Monday.
The breath analyser test which is carried out to judge if the driver is under the influence of alcohol, requires breathing into the gadget, which might be contaminated if a swine flu patient is made to take the test.
“There is definitely a big chance of swine flu virus spreading from one person to another because the person will be blowing directly into the instrument. In such a scenario, doing these checks on several people is not advisable,” Dr Rafi, pulmonologist at Care Hospital, said. However, police officials on Monday, claimed that they were taking precautionary measures and will continue to conduct drunken driving checks as usual. “We are taking additional precautions, such as using disposable instruments and wearing masks and gloves while conducting the checks. There are no plans of putting a brake on these checks and they will be done as usual,’’ additional commissioner of police, traffic, Jitender, said.
Another Dies of swine Flu, 41 Test Positive
A 30-year-old man from Yousufguda, who was diagnosed with swine flu died at Gandhi Hospital on Monday and 41 tested positive for the virus out of the 126 samples tested. A bulletin released by Suresh Chanda, principal secretary of health and family welfare, stated that the number of positive cases reported in the past six days showed a declining trend.