Swine flu on Wednesday claimed five more lives, four of them in worst-hit Pune alone, taking the countrywide toll to 17 even as authorities in Mumbai shut down schools and colleges for a week and cinema halls for three days to check the spread of the virus.

Text: PTI

With the infection spreading fast, the Maharashtra government ordered closure of schools and colleges in Mumbai for a week and theatres and multiplexes for three days. The decision was taken as part of precautionary measures to check the infection, a senior state government official said

Azad said in New Delhi that, "Swine flu has spread all over the world. I spend four to five hours with doctors everyday. I try to see where we are lacking behind and how much science is yet to achieve. It can be said that there is neither any limit to science nor diseases."

As the Centre and the states intensified their battle against the infection, central teams have been dispatched to all states and union territories, after Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad chaired a meeting of 35 additional secretaries and joint secretaries drawn from various ministries, who would fan out across the country.

He briefed the teams personally on Tuesday before they were dispatched to the state capitals.

While 14 additional secretaries will travel to the large states, the joint secretaries would go to other states and union territories. The teams would stay there for two-three days and would return by August 15. Azad also spoke to all chief ministers and told them to step up preparedness.

The health minister requested the chief ministers to chair the first meeting of these teams so that on-the-spot decisions are taken for swift implementation, a senior Health Ministry official said.