Dengue cases in Delhi under control; govt is alert and prepared: Health minister

Delhi has so far recorded 158 cases of dengue this year, according to a weekly report released by the city’s municipal corporations. The report showed that 34 dengue cases have been recorded since last Saturday (September 11). However, no deaths have been reported till now, it added.

Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said on Wednesday that dengue cases recorded in the national capital till now are in control and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government is alert and prepared to deal with any situation arising out of the vector-borne disease.

Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain. (ANI file photo)

Delhi has so far recorded 158 cases of dengue this year, according to a weekly report released by the city’s municipal corporations. The report showed that 34 dengue cases have been recorded since last Saturday (September 11). However, no deaths have been reported till now, it added. On the other hand, Delhi has also seen 68 cases of malaria and 40 cases of chikungunya since the beginning of 2021. Civic bodies in Delhi have ramped up their measures to control the spread of the above mentioned vector-borne diseases.

“About 34 cases (of dengue) have been recorded in September till date. Last year, 188 cases were reported in the entire month of September. So, cases are under control. We are alert, and all prepared to handle any dengue situation,” Jain was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. The health minister said his government’s anti-dengue drive ‘10 Hafte, 10 Baje, 10 Minute’, has been running for the past two weeks to raise awareness and it will be further intensified.

However, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused the Delhi government of indulging in campaign politics when it came to combating vector diseases.

BJP leader Mukesh Suryan, who is the mayor of South Delhi, said on Tuesday that chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was taking credit for work done by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) in curbing the spread of vector-borne diseases in the Delhi, adding that the anti-dengue campaign is an eyewash in the fight against such diseases.

“The Delhi government is playing campaign politics as their anti-dengue drive, ‘10 Hafte, 10 Baje, 10 Minute’ is just an eyewash in the fight against vector-borne diseases,” Suryan said while speaking to reporters on Tuesday. The South Delhi mayor also sought an explanation from the Delhi CM as to how “how vector-borne diseases can be controlled through advertisements.”

Concerns over dengue cases in Delhi arise amid a widespread outbreak of the vector-borne disease in the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh. Several districts in UP including Firozabad, Agra, Mathura, Noida, among others, have been hard hit by dengue. Last week, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that it had detected the D2 strain of dengue in the specimens from Uttar Pradesh, which is fatal, impacts the platelet count and can often cause haemorrhage.