LAHORE: Spread of dengue fever has gone out of control throughout Punjab, especially the provincial metropolis Lahore and 42 new cases have reported from across the province during the past 24 hours.
With the fresh cases, the total number of dengue cases reported in Punjab so far in the current year has increased to 888, the health department informed.
It further said that Friday, 22 patients of dengue fever were reported in Lahore and the number of dengue patients in the metropolis rose to 304 so far this year.
The health department further said that during the last 24 hours, seven dengue patients were reported in Rawalpindi, three each in Multan and Gujranwala and two cases each in Attock and Gujrat.
The department further said that currently, 40 dengue fever patients are under treatment in hospitals across Punjab. Out of these, 21 are admitted to hospitals in Lahore.
Moreover, 2,678 beds have been allocated for dengue fever patients in hospitals across Punjab, the health department said.
Cases in Rawalpindi climb to 137
Meanwhile, the total number of dengue case Rawalpindi has reached 137 cases with seven more patients reported during the past 24 hours.
Chief Executive Officer of District Health Authority Dr Ijaz Ahmad said that two each patients had arrived from the Potohar town, Cantonment and Municipal Corporation areas.
He informed that 120 patients had been discharged after recovery while 17 confirmed patients were admitted to the district’s health facilities. During the last 24 hours, Dr Ijaz said that the district administration had registered 71 FIRs, issued tickets to 13 premises, sealed 15 and imposed a fine of Rs 257,000 against the violations of dengue SOPs, he told.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Hasan Waqar Cheema called upon the residents to keep an eye on junkyards, schools and under-construction buildings and remove water after rain to prevent the spread of dengue larvae breeding.
He said that special attention was being given to high-risk Union Councils and a comprehensive micro plan had been devised as per SOPs to eliminate larvae.
The DC said that staff deployed for the anti-dengue drive had been told that no negligence would be tolerated.
