Islamabad: Despite claims by the provincial governments and the health department of Islamabad, the dengue virus situation is worsening in the country and after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab, the cases are now being reported from Sindh.
Sindh health department on Wednesday said 38 people were affected by the virus in the last 24 hours — 18 from Karachi, 8 from Matiari, 6 from Mirpurkhas, 5 in Tharparkar, and one from Sujawal.
The new cases have pushed the total number of cases in the province to 492 during October. However, according to the doctors and health officials, the number of dengue cases could be much higher than reported by the official sources.
Punjab is ahead of all other provinces and Islamabad, as the province is worst-affected, and according to the province’s Primary & Secondary Health Department (PSHD), 325 new dengue cases were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total number to 4,876.
A day earlier, 262 people had tested positive for the virus in 24 hours and according to the provincial health department presently 610 dengue patients were undergoing treatment across Punjab, of which 330 were in Lahore’s hospitals alone.
Since January 1, 2021 the dengue virus has claimed 12 deaths, according to the Punjab’s primary & secondary health department.
Punjab’s PSHD Secretary Imran Sikandar Baloch has passed orders directing the officials concerned to intensify dengue prevention activities across the province. In his statement, Baloch stressed the need for precautionary measures against dengue, appealing to the citizens to be more responsible to prevent the disease and don’t let water accumulate in their houses and areas.
After Punjab, Islamabad is singled out by the health authorities, as the city is facing a continuous rise in dengue fever cases. This has built up pressure on the public sector and private hospitals amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wednesday turned out to be the third consecutive day when the capital reported over 100 dengue fever patients, 115, thus taking the overall number of cases in the capital to 1,458.
“On Tuesday, at least 113 people contracted the fever and five more succumbed to it in a day,” said the official, adding that over 200 patients are under treatment at different hospitals.
On Monday the tally was 121, according to the district health department of Islamabad.
According to the health officer, 948 cases were reported from rural areas while 470 cases were confirmed in urban areas of Islamabad. The Islamabad administration has launched an anti-dengue campaign in response to the alarmingly high levels of dengue fever cases.
21 deaths, 1021 positive cases of COVID-19
Pakistan has reported a slight surge in COVID-19 positivity — from 1.62 per cent on Tuesday to 2.34 per cent on Wednesday — and according to the National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC) against 43,578 tests conducted during the last twenty-four hours, 1,021 returned positive.
Likewise the country’s toll climbed to 28,173 after 21 fatalities in the last 24 hours. the NCOC stats further reveal 1,683 persons recovered from COVID-19 during the last twenty-four hours while there were 41,071 active cases of coronavirus in the country.
According to Islamabad’s DHO, almost 80 per cent of the eligible population of the federal capital has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and the positivity rate in the capital has dropped below 1 per cent i.e. 0.97 per cent. Against 4,134 tests conducted during the last 24 hours, 40 persons were found infected with COVID-19 showing less than 1 per cent positivity rate, he gave further details.
The success against COVID-19, he said, was made possible because people are strictly following the SOPs and an accelerated vaccination drive currently underway. The district health teams are administering COVID-19 vaccine jabs to even 12-year old boys and girls and on Wednesday, too an entire batch of students of a local school came for vaccination.
