Six new cases of swine flu were reported on Friday, taking the confirmed infections in India to 50 from 44 recorded yesterday.

In its statement, the health ministry said that among the new infections, three are from Delhi, two from Bangalore and one from Mumbai. Out of these 50 cases, 16 have been discharged. The statement further added that the rest of the patients are all stable and remain admitted to the identified health facilities.

Of the three cases in Delhi, one is the mother of a contact who tested positive on June 17; the other two are a nine-year-old boy, who travelled from the US on June 11, and a 28-year-old male, who travelled from Egypt on June 13.

All their contacts are being traced, even as the two new cases in Bangalore have been imported from the US and Frankfurt. The single case in Mumbai is a 36-year-old male who came from New Jersey on June 15, and reported his symptoms to a government health facility.

As per the latest figures of WHO, there are over 44,287 laboratory confirmed cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection from 89 countries. There have been 180 deaths.

Meanwhile, Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has asked the people not to panic. He said that the health authorities have already upped the ante with regard to vigil and screening of all inbound passengers at the airports. Azad asserted that screening of the persons arriving at various international airports, seaports and other entry points had helped in checking the spread of the virus.

The minister also made it clear that the government have also advised the US to screen all outbound passengers to combat the flu in a well-organized way.

He requested the people to avoid unnecessary visits to countries such as the U.S. till the flu was brought under control.