With nine more people succumbing to swine flu in the last 24 hours, the death toll in the state is nearing 300, official sources said.

The state government said three deaths were reported from Ahmedabad, and one each from Surat, Kutch, Bharuch, Gir-Somnath, Amreli and Junagadh.

With these, the number of lives claimed by swine flu in the state in the current year has shot up to 297, the second highest after Maharasthra, which has reported about 420 deaths so far. More than half of the deaths in Gujarat have taken place in August alone, according to officials.

According to officials, 207 new cases of swine flu were reported in the state in the last 24 hours. Incidentally, almost half of these, that is 102 cases were reported from Ahmedabad, which has been the worst-hit by the outbreak.

Officials said that Vadodara city reported 23 new cases, followed by Banaskantha (7), Ahmedabad district (6) and Bharuch (6). Sabarkantha and Jamnagar reported five cases each, while Surat and Rajkot cities, Gandhinagar and Kutch reported four cases.

Swine flu cases were also reported in Rajkot, Vadodara, Mehsana, Kheda, Dahod, Anand, Patan, Panchmahals, Aravalli, Porbandar, Mahisagar, Bhavnagar and Amreli districts.

Officials said that 208 patients were discharged on Wednesday. A total of 1,672 swine flu patients are undergoing treatment, of whom 22 are on ventilator, they added.

'Some districts don't have H1N1 testing labs'

The state government said in the High Court on Wednesday that there are no laboratories for swine flu testing in 26 out of 33 districts in the state. The government said that there are three laboratories in Ahmedabad, and one each in Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar and Kutch. Moreover, there are private laboratories in Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara.

Civic body issues notice to hospitals

The health department of AMC is tracking hospitals that are not following medical protocol for H1N1 patients. On Wednesday, two more hospitals were served notices. "A high-risk patient was admitted to the general ward of a hospital despite having an isolated ward facility. A two month-old positive patient was not shifted to the isolated ward at Synergy Hospital in Vasna. We have served them a notice seeking an explanation," said Dr Bhavin Solanki, medical officer in-charge of health at AMC.

State ropes in teachers and students for swine flu awareness programmes

The state government has decided to rope in students and teachers to spread awareness about the swine flu epidemic. The education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama addressed government school children and teachers on Wednesday via a video conference and appealed them to join awareness campaigns against swine flu in their villages, towns or areas.