Amid rising cases of dengue in the Capital, civic authorities have conducted fogging drives at 148 Ramlila grounds in Delhi and over 6,428 houses or places near them. Besides, spraying of insecticide is also being done at various Durga Puja pandals in the city, officials said. "Generally, Ramlila committees request us to conduct fogging drives, but this year, we have taken action on our own," a senior official said.
He acknowledged that rising cases of dengue is a factor in taking the step.
The MCD has carried out fogging drives at 148 Ramlila grounds and 6,428 houses or places near them in all its 12 zones. It has also carried out various anti-larval measures at these sites, the civic body said in a statement.
Fogging drives have been conducted at Punjabi Bagh Ramlila ground, Janakpuri Ramlila ground, Harinagar Ramlila Maidan, Ramlila ground near Bharti College, Ramlila ground at Ajmal Khan Road, Karol Bagh, Ramlila ground at Dwarka Sector-10 and Sector-11, among other sites.The MCD also carried out public awareness campaigns along with fogging drives. Meanwhile, doctors at many government and private hospitals are reporting a rise in footfall in OPDs after a continuous spike in dengue cases in Delhi in the past two weeks. Most of the patients are complaining of fever, cough, sore throat and body ache or headache or both.
Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital - Delhi government's largest hospital and the main COVID-19 facility - is also reporting dengue cases with some of the patients being admitted after their platelets level had fallen beyond the normal range.
Dengue fever can result in a drop in white blood cell and platelet counts. The normal platelet count in the body ranges from 1.5 to 4 lacs, which can go down to as low as 20,000 to 40,000 in the case of dengue patients. Over 520 dengue cases have been reported in Delhi this year till September 21, as per the data shared by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), as per data.According to a report released by the civic body on September 26, as many as 281 cases have been reported this month alone till September 21.
The spurt in dengue cases in the national capital has come after Delhi was lashed by incessant rains recently. 106 cases of malaria and 20 cases of chikungunya have also been reported this year in Delhi in the same period, the report said.
Of the 525 total cases recorded till September 21 this year, 75 were reported in August, which is the highest number of dengue cases logged between January 1 to September 21 since 2017, when the corresponding figure was 1,807.
