Dengue emergency declared in Pindi

Health minister tells doctors to work 18 hours a day

RAWALPINDI: In spite of months-long surveillance and fumigation by district authorities, the risk of dengue epidemic outbreak still exists.

There has been sudden spike in number of people contracting the dengue viral fever in the past three weeks.

Owing to the situation, Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid imposed dengue emergency in Rawalpindi on Monday.

During her visit to Benazir Bhutto Hospital she directed doctors to work even for 18 hours per day during the dengue emergency.

Making round of the dengue isolation ward, she asked patients about their wellbeing and the facilities they were getting at BBH.

She told hospital administration to provide available facilities to the patients without any negligence in medication and extend working hours of doctors to 18-hour a day.

Representative of doctors have yet to make a statement on the verbal direction of the health minister.

CM for measures to deal with dengue

The minister said dengue could only be eliminated with coordinated and combined efforts. Meanwhile, she chaired a meeting regarding anti-dengue campaign in Rawalpindi DC office, in which facts and figures pertaining to anti-dengue campaign were discussed.

According to an official handout, Punjab Health Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman, DC Mohammad Ali Randhawa and other officers of health department were present in the meeting.

Update

In the past 24 hours, 30 patients have been diagnosed with dengue in Potohar Town areas of Airport Housing Society, Gulbahar Colony, and Kot Jabbi.

Till now, the confirmed patients of dengue from Potohar Town were 194, while the total number of dengue positive people from Rawalpindi was 353 as of Monday. No new case of dengue was reported from cantonment areas and city. 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2019.