970 booked for flouting SOPs as govt moves to contain dengue

CS warns of action against housing societies ignoring guidelines

LAHORE:

Authorities continued a crackdown and registered 446 cases in different cities during the last five days over dengue SOPs violation.

The officials briefed the Punjab Chief Secretary (CS) Kamran Ali Afzal that 276 cases were registered in Lahore, 104 in Rawalpindi, nine in Faisalabad, 14 in Attock, seven in Sargodha, four in Kasur, four in Khushab and one in Sheikhupura over violation of dengue protocols.

They said that six FIRs were registered in Sahiwal, and three each in Gujranwala, Okara and Toba Tek Singh, while two each in Multan, Narowal, Chiniot, Gujarat, Nankana Sahib and Sialkot.

Chief Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal presided over an important meeting to review the dengue situation in the province, at the Civil Secretariat on Saturday. The Chief Secretary directed that no leniency be shown over violation of dengue SOPs.

He asked the officers to ensure case response within 24 hours. He said that peoples’ cooperation was very important to control dengue, adding that a community mobilization campaign should be started to raise awareness about dengue.

The CS also issued instructions to the cooperatives secretary to take strict action against housing societies that are not adhering to the SOPs. The secretary Health gave a detailed briefing at the meeting. He said that 970 confirmed dengue cases and three deaths have been reported in the province so far this year. As many as 221 dengue patients are under treatment in hospitals across Punjab.

The additional chief secretary, secretaries of various departments and officers concerned attended the meeting while all divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners participated through video link.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2022.