21 more dengue patients hospitalised in Pindi

Total of 139 suspected patients admitted to three hospitals in garrison city

RAWALPINDI:

As many as 21 new dengue positive cases were reported during the last 24 hours, raising the tally of confirmed cases to 310 so far in the Rawalpindi district, said District Coordinator Epidemics Prevention and Control (DCEPC) Dr Sajjad Mehmood on Monday.

He said that among the new cases, 10 were reported from Rawalpindi Cantonment area, five from Municipal Corporation area, three from Taxila, one from Potohar town, one from under Army control area, while the address of one patient was not traced yet.

“Presently,139 suspect cases were admitted to three public sector hospitals of the city, including Holy Family, Benazir Bhutto and District Headquarter hospitals out of which 93 were declared positive while the hospitals have the capacity of 187 beds to deal with dengue cases,” he said, adding that six patients were in a critical condition at the holy family hospital.

Comparing the data of dengue cases to the previous years, he said, adding that 3,613 cases had been declared positive in 2019, 12 tested positive in 2020 while only 310 confirmed cases had been reported so far since the January of this year in the district.

Read Dengue prevention gains urgency

Meanwhile, the authorities concerned of Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) have been directed to speed up ongoing anti-dengue campaign and strictly monitor anti-dengue activities in all cantt areas.

According to a RCB spokesperson, Cantonment Executive Officer, Muhammad Umar Farooq Ali Malik had directed the authorities concerned to speed up ongoing anti-dengue campaign and utilise all available resources to control dengue.

Strict action in accordance with the law would be taken against negligent officials, the CEO warned. He said, October is very important regarding control of dengue as most reported during this period, so the teams must focus activities to ensure elimination of dengue larvae.

The RCB CEO said that antidengue surveillance activities, elimination of larvae, IRS spray and fogging was being carried out in cantonment areas while special teams on emergency basis had also been constituted.