The Capital has set a new record with the number of dengue cases this year crossing the 12,000 mark, the highest since 1996 – the year when records started being maintained.
As of Thursday, a total of 12,020 cases had been registered in Delhi, with 10,191 of the patients contracting the vector-borne disease in the Capital and 1,829 in other States.
From Sunday till Thursday, the number of cases went up by 1,337, as per data released by the municipal corporations.
A total of 32 people have died of dengue this year. In 1996, a total of 10,253 people had been infected with dengue and 423 had died from the disease.
Najafgarh tops the list
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s Najafgarh Zone tops the list with 832 cases, followed by the East Delhi Municipal Corporation’s Shahdara (North) and Shahdara (South) zones with 802 and 698 cases respectively.
The North Delhi Municipal Corporation, which has seen 2,561 cases, had taken steps to control the mosquito population despite a lack of funds, said Mayor Ravinder Gupta.
“Even though the Delhi Government withheld our funds, we ensured that fumigation and spraying of larvacide was carried out in time. The rest is up to nature,” said Mr. Gupta.
The SDMC, which has seen the highest number of dengue cases at 2,578, had failed to tackle the problem effectively, said Leader of Opposition Farhad Suri.
“Both the corporations and the Delhi Government failed the people of Delhi as they were unable to prevent the spread of dengue. Instead of working for the betterment of people, the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party are busy playing politics,” said Mr. Suri.
Meanwhile, health officials say the number of patients coming to the municipal hospitals has fallen drastically. One of the busiest hospitals in the area, the North Corporation’s Bara Hindu Rao Hospital was seeing around 700 patients every day in its fever clinic.
On Thursday, the fever clinic saw 421 patients and there were 245 hospital beds occupied by dengue patients, down from 600 patients that were admitted on September 14, according to Director of Hospital Administration Dr. D.K. Seth.
“The number of dengue cases is the highest since we started maintaining records, but one must keep the population increase since 1996 into account,” said Dr. Seth.
He added that the attendance at the fever clinics at Hindu Rao and Kasturba hospitals was down 45 per cent, and dengue was on its way out as the temperature dips.
