Pune, Aug 7 - In what appeared to be a respite, health officials in Maharashtra said Friday there was no fresh case of swine flu in the state and that 128 of the 172 affected had been discharged from hospital. The test reports of 58 suspect cases were expected later Friday.

'The figure of positive cases remains at 172. However, we are awaiting the test reports of 58 suspected cases which will be received later today,' head of State Swine Flu Control Room Pradeep Awate told IANS.

In a positive development, Awate said, of the 172 cases, 128 had left hospital after completing their treatment by Thursday evening.

'Now, only 44 patients, including one who is in intensive care unit (ICU), continue to be under treatment in Pune and Mumbai. Depending on their response to medication, they shall be discharged in due course,' he said.

With Maharashtra being the worst affected state and Pune reporting the most number of cases (118), people continued to queue up outside the 15 H1N1 preliminary screening centres opened Thursday, said Pune Municipal Corporation's (PMC) health department head S.R. Pardeshi.

'There were huge crowds yesterday, and people have also started queuing up today for precautionary tests,' he said.

Over the last few days, particularly after the city reported the country's first swine flu death on Aug 3, Pune has virtually become a 'masked' city with people sporting face masks at home, in public spaces and at work places.