He added that Samrat's father had thanked the hospital authorities for taking care of him.

At the moment, he disclosed, five patients were undergoing treatment for H1N1 at the RML. All were stable.

'Earlier, we were sending 130-140 samples per day for swine flu tests. But it has come down to 15 samples. The screening of people having flu-like symptoms has also gone down,' he added.

Chaturvedi said that the woman, a resident of Model Town in New Delhi, had returned from Singapore Aug 15 and had developed flu symptoms since then.

'She went to private doctors who asked her to visit a designated government facility. She visited the RML Hospital on Aug 20 in a critical condition. She was gasping and was immediately admitted and put on ventilator,' Chaturvedi told reporters.

He said her sample was sent to the NCDC (National Centre for Disease Control), previously known as the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), and she 'tested highly positive for H1N1'.

According to the union health ministry, of the 159 cases only three had travel history.

'About 12,604 people have been tested so far, out of whom 2,401 are positive for Influenza A (H1N1),' a ministry statement issued here said.

Most of the fresh cases were reported from Maharashtra, with Pune topping with 66 swine flu cases, followed by 18 from Mumbai.

Other cases from the state were reported from Nashik (3), Aurangabad (6), Dhule (4), Osmanabad (2), Washim (1), Solapur (1), Beed (1) and Parbhani (1).

Keeping in mind the number of cases and deaths being reported from the state, a central team has been stationed to assist the Maharashtra government in instituting appropriate public health measures.

Fresh cases were also reported from Chennai (12), Chengalpattu (1), Delhi (11), Vishakhapatnam (3), Idukki in Kerala (1), Trivandrum (1), Ernakulam (1), Udaipur (3), Noida (1), Bareilly (1), Rohtak (1), Raipur (1).

In Karnataka, 19 cases were reported - Bangalore (13), Davangere (3), Hubli (2) and Gadag (1).

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), till Aug 13 about 182,166 laboratory confirmed cases of H1N1 were reported. About 1,799 deaths have been reported worldwide.