A Union Health Ministry statement pegged the total number of dengue cases at 116,991 across the country. (File/PTI)The Union Health Ministry has rushed high-level expert teams to nine states and Union Territories with a high dengue caseload, the government announced today. The expert teams will assist the state and Union Territories in public health measures to effectively control and manage the spread of the disease.
On Monday, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya reviewed the dengue situation in Delhi, which witnessed a spurt in cases in October, and directed the health secretary to deploy an expert team to help control the situation. Experts from the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, National Centre for Disease Control, and Regional Offices have been included in the panels.
“On-ground initiatives like hotspot identification, fogging & timely treatment will be carried out to curb disease,” Mandaviya tweeted after the review meeting.
“Centre is also sending a team of experts to States with rising Dengue cases.”
The states and Union Territories to which the expert teams have been deployed are Kerala, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, and Delhi. The Union Health Ministry said 15 states and Union Territories were reporting the maximum cases this year, accounting for 86% of India’s total dengue caseload till October 31.
A Union Health Ministry statement pegged the total number of dengue cases at 116,991 across the country.
Delhi has reported 1,530 dengue cases so far this year. It recorded nearly 1,200 cases in October alone, the highest for the month in four years, PTI reported citing official data.
Last week, the Delhi government issued a directive allowing state-run hospitals to use a third of the beds reserved for Covid-19 patients for those diagnosed with dengue, chikungunya, and malaria.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said the decision was based on the declining Covid-19 cases in national capital. He added that these beds would be completely separated from Covid-19 patients with different staff members involved in the treatment to reduce the possibility of transmission of the Covid-19 virus.
The national capital’s three civic bodies have already intensified fogging and spraying drives in their respective jurisdictions amid the surge in cases.
Dengue cases witness an upsurge between July and November. The larvae of the dengue mosquito breed in clear, standing water.
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