12 swine flu cases, 2 deaths in city in first 10 days of Oct

MUMBAI: Twelve cases of swine flu and two deaths were reported in Mumbai in the first 10 days of October alone — a sudden spike compared to the first nine months of this year, when only a single case of swine flu was reported.

Across Maharashtra, there have been more than 101 deaths and 1,200 cases since January 2018, with 70 deaths in September alone. The two deaths in Mumbai this month were of patients who came for treatment from outside the city.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials said this year’s statistics were not alarming — in the same January to October period in 2017, Mumbai had recorded 995 cases and 18 deaths. However, what is surpris-

ing is the spread of the virus and an increase in the number cases at a time when temperatures have been rising in the city — the virus normally spreads more

during the cooler months, from November to February. Experts said this was a phenomenon that needed to be studied.

CONTINUED ON P 10 MUMBAI:CM Devendra Fadnavis is likely to announce a long-pending expansion of his cabinet this month, as his government enters the fifth and final year of its term.

Fadnavis is expected to induct some new faces, drop non-performing ministers and offer better portfolios to Shiv Sena, to keep the alliance going for the Assembly polls in 2019.

Fadnavis said the dates are still “undecided”, but a reshuffle is on the cards. Another BJP minister said it will “most likely take place this month”, and added that it was their “last chance to adjust regional and caste representations” ahead of the polls.

››FULL REPORT, P8