Delhi has reported 105 fresh dengue cases in the past week, taking the tally to nearly 350, according to a municipal corporation report issued on Monday. The national capital recorded 243 cases of the vector-borne disease till July 28. According to the latest report issued by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the tally was at 348 till August 5.
The report said 85 malaria cases were recorded in the January 1-August 5 period. The number of dengue cases reported in July stood at 121, 40 in June and 23 in May. All fresh 105 cases were recorded in the first five days of August.
Delhi reported 174 dengue cases for the same period (January 1-August 5) in 2022, 55 in 2021, 35 in 2020, 47 in 2019 and 64 in 2018.
Scores of DBC (domestic breeding checking) workers, who are at the forefront of the fight against vector-borne diseases in the city, had gone on an indefinite strike on July 31 under the banner of 'Anti-Malaria Ekta Karmachari Union'. After days of protest, they resumed work on August 5, the Union's president, Devanand Sharma, said.
On the inspection of households, he said, "maximum breeding of mosquito larvae in the month of July, were found in stagnant water in water coolers and flower pots". "In case of violations, in our report, we mention where the breeding of larvae was found in households. In money plant pots, a lot of breeding of larvae is found, but about 60 per cent of these are generally found in stagnant water in water coolers and flower pots," Sharma said on Monday.
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Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj recently held a meeting with medical directors and superintendents of various hospitals in the city and discussed protocols that need to be formulated on dengue amid a spike in its cases in the national capital.
From reserving five per cent beds at hospitals for dengue patients to providing information daily on such cases there, on the city health department's portal, are among the slew of measures the Delhi government has undertaken to check its spread, officials earlier said. In a statement issued on August 2, the Delhi health department said, instructions had also been given to authorities to provide dengue test reports within 6-8 hours for timely treatment.
Bharadwaj had instructed all hospital authorities to provide information daily on dengue patients admitted to their hospitals, on the city health department's portal, similar to how all medical facilities used to report COVID-19 data daily during the pandemic. This practice will help the government stay informed about the current situation of dengue in Delhi and enable them to make well-organised arrangements to tackle any potential emergencies effectively, the statement said.
