TBILISI, DFWatch–A third person has died of swine flu in Georgia.

The 68 year old patient suffered from a chronic disease, like the previous two victims of the H1N1 virus, and died in a hospital in Zugdidi on Thursday.

The National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) said Thursday that are currently about 9,000 people in Georgia who have the virus, a considerable increase from the 3,000 estimate last Friday. But according to the center, the spread of the virus has not yet reached the level of an epidemic.

95 percent of those infected are currently undergoing medical treatment in their homes.

NCDC spokesperson Paata Imnadze told Interpressnews that the third victim, who died on Thursday, was a woman who came from Georgia’s breakaway region Abkhazia to receive treatment. Health travels from Abkhazia has become a common practice in recent years, as it is closer and cheaper than seeking treatment in Russia.