It seems that Delhi government has finally woken up.

The government is now leaving no stone unturned to invoke the Epidemic Act, making it compulsory for any person who has tested positive for A (H1N1) to get admitted in identified hospitals.

Giving this information to the media persons, Delhi Health Secretary J.P. Singh said: “The Delhi government has invoked the Epidemic Act. Under Section 2 of the act, it is mandatory for a person infected with the flu to get admitted in an identified hospital. If the person refuses to do do, police would be asked to detain him.”

The health authorities pointed out that there was nothing that could stopped them from invoking the century-old Act.

The need to invoke the Act came to the front after two dominant patients in Delhi: a 35-year-old industrialist who returned to India from     New York some days ago and his mother left their isolation ward Ram Manohar Lohia hospital and parked at their farm house in Rajokri, close to Gurgaon, thereby risking the spread of deadly virus.

Speaking on this, Vineet Chawdhry (Joint Secretary, Central Health Ministry) said: “They (son and mother) have been admitted to an identified hospital near the airport and they are being monitored and kept in isolation.”

This was the first case of swine flu in the NCR and the second in the country, the first being reported from Hyderabad.

Earlier on Thursday, WHO declared H1N1 Flu as phase six health pandemic. Swine flu, the world’s first pandemic in 4 decades has caused over 140 deaths and 30,000 infections in 74 countries.

As far as India is concerned, it has reported 16 H1N1 flu cases so far. Out of these, four more persons have tested positive on Thursday while five passengers were quarantined, three at Delhi and one each at Bangalore and Goa.