Kolkata, Aug 19 (Inditop.com) West Bengal reported five new cases of swine flu Wednesday, taking the total number of H1N1 patients in the state to 61, a health official said here.

“Five new swine flu cases have been confirmed today (Wednesday) and with this the figure goes up to 61 so far,” Tapas Sen, the state’s nodal officer for swine flu, told Inditop.

He said the condition of two-and-half-year-old Akash Chowdhury, who was admitted to the intensive care unit of the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, was “critical”.

“The boy is still on ventilator support,” Sen said.

He said that former Indian cricket skipper Sourav Ganguly’s 11-year-old niece Sneha, who is also down with swine flu, was making satisfactory progress now.

Sneha, who was admitted to the swine flu isolation ward of the state-run M.R. Bangur Hospital, tested positive for influenza A(H1N1) Monday.

West Bengal has not reported any deaths from the virus so far.

With only two designated swine flu hospitals in the metropolis, the state health department plans to open an isolation ward at one more hospital in the satellite township of Salt Lake.