Late reporting of illness has been found to be the main cause of deaths due to diseases during the last year's monsoon, Maharashtra Health Minister Deepak Sawant said on June 22.

Sawant said an audit of the deaths last monsoon found that in most cases, patients did not seek the medical help immediately. With the onset of monsoon, he has instructed municipal corporations and local bodies to ensure adequate medicine stocks, he said. Authorities have also been asked to prepare isolation wards for patients of swine flu, malaria, dengue and leptospirosis, he said.

 The number of dengue cases in Mumbai has halved compared to the last year, he said. Leptospirosis is found more commonly in coastal areas during the rains, he said. Last year 18 persons died of leptospirosis in the state, while this year 19 cases have been found in Mumbai, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg, but no death has been reported so far, the health minister said.

Between January and June this year, eight lakh patients were screened for swine flu out of which 34 tested positive. In Mumbai, no cases of swine flu infection were found, he said. He has also instructed officials to ensure cleanliness at construction sites, and those violating the directives to prevent accumulation of rainwater -- which leads to mosquito breeding -- will face action, he said.