Deaths not due to chikungunya, government prepared, says health minister

NEW DELHI: As the death toll of chikungunya climbed to five on Tuesday, Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain toured several government hospitals to access preparedness,

NEW DELHI: As the death toll of chikungunya climbed to five on Tuesday, Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain toured several government hospitals to access preparedness, hours after he landed in the city from Goa.

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The health minister visited Aruna Asaf Ali, Dr Hedgewar Arogya Sanstha, Guru Teg Bahadur and Lal Bahadur Shastri hospitals among others.

He, however, denied that the five people died of chikungunya.

“Chikungunya cannot kill anyone. There has never been a chikungunya death in the world. Can it be proven medically that the deaths were due to chikungunya,” the Delhi health minister said.

The government assured that it is fully prepared to deal with dengue and chikungunya patients, from Delhi and the neighbouring states.

“Many people come to Delhi for treatment and they usually reach here when they are critical. But, we are prepared — beds are available, patients are being treated, there is no problem at all,” Jain said.

The government earmarked 1,000 beds in three hospitals – Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, Janakpuri Super Speciality Hospital and Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital – only for fever patients.

They also allowed private hospitals and nursing homes to increase their bed strength by 10-20%.

“For the additional beds for chikungunya or dengue, the hospital shall not be charged more than 50% of the lowest bed price of the hospital,” a government release read.

The Delhi government is also running fever clinics in 262 dispensaries, 106 mohalla clinics and 26 Delhi government hospitals to provide primary care to fever patients.

The government had initially capped the prices of dengue tests in August, but on seeing a rise in the number of chikungunya cases, the price of the antigen test for chikungunya has been capped at `600 and the RT-PCR has been capped at `1,500.

A helpline number — 011-22307145 – has also been launched by the government to provide information on the two mosquito-borne diseases.

To prevent dehydration in patients and their kin, the government is providing ORS and water in the outpatient department of government hospitals.

Meanwhile, Union health minister JP Nadda will hold a review meeting with the states on Wednesday.

“We have been monitoring the situation closely. The Union government has provided technical support and issued guidelines in time. We have coordinated with Delhi and I have assured them that we will try to look into any needs that they might have. We have said the same to the MCDs,” said Nadda.