Delhi records 177 cases of dengue in one week

New Delhi: The number of dengue cases rose to 644 from 467 in one week in the national capital, says the latest data released by the Delhi government on Monday.

However, the number is almost half of the cases registered as compared to last year.

“The latest data released on Monday shows that there have been 644 cases of dengue in Delhi till now, whereas last year (2018) there had been 1,020 cases of dengue so far,” an official statement said.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal gave the credit for this downward spiral in dengue cases to his anti-dengue drive.

He said the ’10 Hafte, 10 Baje, 10 Minute’ campaign launched in September this year is showing excellent results.

Kejriwal said the Delhi government deeply appreciates the efforts of Delhiites in the ongoing dengue prevention awareness campaign, which has resulted in the lowest number of dengue cases in Delhi this year so far, in comparison to the last five years.

On October 14, Kejriwal had announced that there were 467 cases of dengue in Delhi till date compared to 830 cases in 2018 and thanked the people for their support in his anti-dengue drive.

Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Monday said Delhiites are on course to defeat dengue this year, and appealed to the residents to keep up the efforts of ensuring that there are no stagnant water collecting points in and around their homes and in their neighbourhoods, in which Aedes Mosquitoes can breed.

“Delhi is on course to defeating dengue this year. Latest figures show that this year so far, the cases of dengue have been the lowest in last five years. I appeal to everyone to keep up the prevention and awareness efforts for next few weeks,” Jain said.

Also, the data released till October 19 shows there has been no dengue death in Delhi this year so far, whereas there had been four deaths last year. The number of casualties due to this vector-borne disease in the preceding years had been in double figures.

The data shows that there has been a steady decline in cases of dengue in Delhi since 2015, when the disease outbreak had claimed 60 lives. But this year Delhi has controlled dengue beyond all expectations, and even the final number of cases is expected to be quite low.

The Chief Minister has appealed to Delhiites to remain alert till November 15.

The Delhi government had been warned by experts earlier this year that it could witness a deadly dengue strain this season. Keeping this warning in mind, the Chief Minister had directed the concerned departments to be ready and he himself launched a mega awareness drive for prevention of dengue.

The key to prevention of dengue is ensuring that there is no clear stagnant water in homes and around, which does not allow the Aedes mosquitoes to breed, and therefore dengue cannot spread, Kejriwal said.

Published on: Oct 21, 2019 at 18:42 IST

IANS