E-Paper
Dengue cases in Punjab breach 10k mark; Hoshiarpur worst-hit
Dengue cases in Punjab seem to be surpassing last year’s count. With 133 fresh cases reported on Friday, the state has reached a case count of 10, 654 till November 10 this year, while in the corresponding period last year, the state had recorded 7,586 cases. Last year, the state had reported a total of 11,030 cases.
Dengue cases in Punjab seem to be surpassing last year’s count. With 133 fresh cases reported on Friday, the state has reached a case count of 10, 654 till November 10 this year, while in the corresponding period last year, the state had recorded 7,586 cases. Last year, the state had reported a total of 11,030 cases.
With 1,323 cases, Hoshiarpur is the worst-affected district, followed by Mohali with 1,101 and Ludhiana with 969 cases.
Patiala, Kapurthala and Bathinda too are not far behind and have reported a high number of positive cases.
As per the state health department, Punjab has already reported seven dengue-related deaths. Officials said there were under reporting of the positive cases in some districts owing to scanty testing.
According to a data by the state health department, there were no dengue tests conducted by seven districts on Friday while six districts conducted one or two tests in a day.
“Given the big population of districts like Amritsar, Jalandhar, and Mohali, the sampling of the disease is dismal. Taking just one or two samples in the entire district when the cases are rising is a cause of concern. We have already directed nodal officers to ramp up the testing,” said a senior official of the state health department.
With the state witnessing fresh rainfall on Friday, there are chances of an uptick in the dengue cases.
“Had there been no rain, cases would have started to decline in the coming days. Now, there are chances of new breeding points which will increase fresh cases,” said Dr Sumeet Singh, nodal officer of dengue programme.
