Dengue cases drop to zero in Rawalpindi

Health official says robust strategy put in place to combat virus in future

RAWALPINDI:

Health officials have said that the dengue virus has disappeared in the Rawalpindi district as temperatures dropped with the onset of winter.

According to health officials, only four patients were currently being treated in three designated hospitals of Rawalpindi.

The dengue virus claimed 17 lives this year and infected 3,776 individuals are currently. A total of 274 beds had been earmarked for the purpose.

Health experts said that water bodies should be sprayed with repellents to deny mosquitos breeding ground and combat the virus in the future.

District Health Authority (DHA) Chief Executive Dr Faiza Kanwal said that while dengue had been brought under control, a new strategy has been put in place to contain the spread of the virus in the future.

Meanwhile, one more patient has died from coronavirus in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 1606 in the Rawalpindi district.

As per the latest data released by the District Health Authority (DHA) on Monday, 1222 of these are residents of Rawalpindi, whereas 384 are from other districts.

The report also stated that four more patients had tested positive during last 24 hours, raising the tally of confirmed cases to 39,424 in the district. This includes 36,395 from Rawalpindi, and 3029 from other districts.

Of the new cases, three patients have arrived from Taxila and one from Rawal Town. “Presently, 19 confirmed patients have been admitted to three city facilities, including eight in Rawalpindi Institute of Urology and Transplantation (RIUT), seven in Fauji Foundation Hospital, and four in Benazir Bhutto Hospital," the report said.

The DHA also revealed that 38,087 patients had been discharged after recovery, including 35,067 from Rawalpindi and 3020 from other districts. In addition, 115 individuals were quarantined, including 96 at homes and 19 in the isolation centres.

The report further updated that 3,935,770 people, including 44,352 health workers, had been vaccinated against coronavirus across the district since the vaccination drive launched on March 10. The report said that one patient was on a ventilator in critical condition, seven were stable, and 11 were on Oxygen support.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2021.