Deadly dengue outbreak in UP's Firozabad hits 3-week mark, at least 60 dead

• Uttar Pradesh health system on heightened alert with an outbreak of a viral fever amid Covid pandemic. Officials said mosquito-borne dengue is the suspected cause of the deadly outbreak. Officials added that the death toll due to the fever in Firozabad rose to 60 on Monday. While the deceased are mostly children, hundreds of others have been undergoing treatment. Firozabad, the worst affected district, has been battling the outbreak for the past three weeks. Officials said that some cases have also been found in neighbouring Mathura, Agra and Mainpuri. Authorities in UP have launched a campaign to destroy mosquito breeding grounds. Health camps across the district have been operating to contain the spread of the fever. Authorities in Firozabad have formed teams to check households for waterlogging. They have also released mosquitofish into water bodies to eat the mosquito larvae. Dengue deaths nationally fell to a multi-year low of 56 last year. Uttar Pradesh reported 42 dengue deaths in 2016, its highest since 2015.