The Capital recorded 699 dengue cases and six deaths over the past week (till December 4), taking this season’s caseload to 8,975 and the death toll to 15, a civic body report said on Monday. This season’s case figure is the highest since 2015 when the city reported close to 16,000 cases and 60 fatalities.
The six deaths occurred in the last two months. The victims include a 25-year-old male who was admitted to the Delhi Government-run Lok Nayak Hospital, and a 38-year-old male, a 13-year-old boy, and an 11-year-old boy who were admitted to Max Hospital. The other two are a 20-year-old female who was admitted to Ayushman Hospital and a 43-year-old female who was admitted to Holy Family Hospital.
“The delay in reporting the deaths was because the lab reports from the hospitals took a while to arrive. Though fatalities are being recorded, it takes some time for the hospitals to review the causes. However, dengue cases have drastically come down,” a senior civic body official said.
North Delhi recorded the highest number of cases last week at 126, followed by south Delhi with 124 cases. East Delhi added 117 cases.
In the previous week (till November 27), north Delhi saw the highest number of cases at 273, followed by south Delhi with 242 cases and east Delhi with 192 cases.
Earlier, the Delhi High Court had rapped the civic bodies for their “failure to control dengue”.
“The delay in reporting is from the Delhi Government’s end because it is in-charge of the data. It wants to hide deaths that have occurred in its hospitals. The SDMC is putting in all its efforts to control the situation,” South Delhi Municipal Corporation Mayor Mukesh Suryan said.
In its earlier statement, the SDMC said that fogging drives were being carried out by 1,300 field workers. It said that around 92 lakh houses had been inspected this season and mosquito-breeding sites were found in 75,000 houses.
Till November 27, Delhi had recorded 8, 276 cases for this season. A majority of the cases — 6,739 — were reported in November.
In the current season, north Delhi has reported 2,515 cases, followed by south Delhi with 2,422 cases. East Delhi has recorded 1,048 cases, the lowest among the three municipal corporations. Apart from the corporations, the New Delhi Municipal Council has recorded 78 cases, while other agencies have reported 157 cases.
