Delhi 'very close to winning' the battle against dengue, says Arvind Kejriwal

Arvind Kejriwal’s comment comes amid a sudden spike in the daily tally of dengue cases since the beginning of October

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed that the national Capital is now "very close" to winning the battle against dengue and urged citizens to participate in '10 Hafte, 10 Baje, 10 Minute' campaign on Sunday to help defeat dengue.

"We all have to work together to stop mosquito-breeding. We all have to do this for 10 weeks, and defeat dengue," chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said. (ANI)

“Like previous weeks, this Sunday too at 10 am, let us all spend 10 minutes, inspecting our homes and surrounding areas, for any sign of stagnant water. If you do find such water, drain it, replace it or cover with a small layer of oil. Together, let us all make Delhi dengue-free," Kejriwal said.

"We all have to work together to stop mosquito-breeding. We all have to do this for 10 weeks, and defeat dengue," he added.

The chief minister’s comment comes amid a sudden spike in the daily tally of dengue cases since the beginning of October. Delhi has been reporting 20 to 30 dengue cases everyday since this month began. The national capital has recorded 723 dengue cases and one fatality this year, government data collected till October 16 shows, of which 382 cases were recorded in this month alone, reported PTI.

“The dengue situation in Delhi is completely under control. There is an adequate number of beds in the hospitals of Delhi. Not only that, patients from outside Delhi are also being treated in Delhi hospitals. At present, 25% of the total dengue patients present in Delhi hospitals are from outside Delhi,” Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain had said.

“Things are still the same as they were in 2019. The number of coronavirus cases was high in 2020. People were at home. Because of this, dengue cases came down rapidly. But this year, the situation is expected to remain the same [as it was in 2019],” he added.

The government has brought down the percentage of beds earmarked for coronavirus patients from 30% to 10% in private hospitals, while reducing the number of reserved beds in government hospitals like Lok Nayak to 400 from 700, claiming that the rest of the beds will be kept aside for dengue patients.