Thiruvananthapuram, Wednesday 09 June 2010: Kerala Government has stepped up preventive measures following the death of two women due to swine flu and reports of spread of various types of fever, Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said.

District medical officers have been instructed to take all necessary steps to check spread of diseases, he told reporters.

Local body authorities have also been alerted on the matter and had been asked to convene meetings to prepare programmes to tackle the situation, Achuthanandan said.

A woman each from Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram succumbed to the swine flu virus since last night and the state now had 19 confirmed cases, health department sources had said yesterday.

Official sources said some more H1N1 cases and fever of various types have been reported across the state.

(PTI)