Dengue Haunts Delhi As Covid Cases Decline, Authorities Concerned Over The Unprecedented Surge

As cases decline in Delhi, the national capital continues to be a victim of dengue outbreak that has led to several deaths in the city. Read on to know how the government plans to tackle the situation.

Even though the cases of coronavirus continue to decline in India, dengue cases are back to haunting some states in the country. One of the worst affected states in Delhi, where the situation is getting progressively worse with each passing day. In the light of the increasing trend, the government has asked hospitals to divert beds dedicated to COVID-19 to people who have been infected with dengue.

In a recent report, five more people in the national capital have died from dengue. The death toll from the mosquito-borne viral virus in the Capital this year has risen to six, the highest since the disease took ten lives in 2017. According to official records, there was only one dengue death in New Delhi last year, two in 2019 and four in 2018.

Dengue Outbreak Concerns Government Authorities

Apart from an increase in dengue fever cases, the municipal corporation is also concerned about an increase in malaria and chikungunya cases, as all of these ailments have now been designated as notifiable diseases. All hospitals, clinics, and diagnostic centres are now required to report cases of notifiable diseases to the government.

With the number of dengue cases on the rise, the Delhi government has instructed hospitals to use one-third of the Covid-19 beds for dengue patients. Hospitals will be required to report the number of beds available for treatment as well as fever instances.

Measures To Be Taken To Curb Dengue Surge In Delhi

Mansukh Mandaviya, the Union Health Minister, examined the dengue situation in the national capital on Monday and ordered the health secretary to dispatch a team of experts to states with a high active caseload for disease control and management.

Mandaviya emphasised the importance of intervention by pointing out that dengue affects a large number of poor people. He said, "primary health care centres may prescribe antipyretic drugs to suppress the symptoms without addressing the root cause which may lead to the eventual demise of the patient. Testing is the most important step to identifying dengue."

He also ordered officials to increase testing so that all instances are appropriately recorded and handled. The minister emphasised the importance of efficient coordination between the federal government and the states. He observed that some hospitals are overburdened with dengue cases, while other hospitals' beds remain vacant. He asked Delhi officials to investigate the potential of repurposing Covid beds for dengue treatment.

Mandaviya tweeted about the steps taken to reduce dengue fever cases, "reviewed the dengue situation in Delhi and assured Centre's full support. On-ground initiatives like hotspot identification, fogging and timely treatment will be carried out to curb disease. Centre is also sending a team of experts to states with rising dengue cases. As per data, Delhi has reported 1,537 cases and six deaths this year till date. Of the total 1,537 cases, 1,196 were reported in the month of October and 531 cases were reported last week."

(with inputs from agencies)