Jain visits hospitals to check dengue preparedness

Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain conducted surprise inspections at seven government hospital early on Friday morning to check arrangements to fight dengue.

The Health minister visited Acharya Bhikshu Hospital, Sardar Patel Hospital, Ambedkar Hospital, Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital, <g data-gr-id="42">Deepchand</g> Bandhu Hospital and Babu Jagjeevan Ram Hospital and took stock of arrangements made for dengue cases.

He expressed his satisfaction with the arrangements to treat dengue patients, tweeting: “Satisfied with the arrangements to fight dengue after visiting 7 Delhi government hospitals.” Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal praised the minister for his early morning surprise visits to the hospitals.

“I am proud of Satyendra Jain as health minister. How many ministers in the country work with such dedication?” he tweeted. The national Capital has witnessed over 3,000 dengue cases this year and recorded over 23 deaths, according to the city’s Municipal Corporations.

However, the unofficial figure puts the toll at over 60 with All India Institute of Medical Science alone witnessing five deaths. 

Meanwhile, nearly 1,700 fresh dengue cases have been reported in the city in the last one week, taking the total number of people affected from the vector-borne disease to 5,471.

“1,680 fresh cases have been reported from September 20-24 in which over 1,200 are from Delhi. The official death toll till September 24, however, still stands at 17,” a senior municipal official said.

The dengue death toll unofficially, meanwhile, has risen to 28. Till September 19, at least 3,791 cases and 17 official deaths due to dengue were reported. 1,680 new cases thus mark a rise of over 44 per cent in the last one week.

In 2010, as many as 6,259 total cases were recorded and only eight deaths were officially reported throughout the year. Till September 19 in 2010, the total number of dengue cases reported was 2,728.

Out of the total 5,471 cases, north Delhi recorded the highest at 1,665, south Delhi at 1,483 while east Delhi posted the lowest with 684 cases. Of all civic zones in the city, Najafgarh Zone of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has recorded the highest number with 518 cases, the official said.

Of the 1,680 fresh cases, 1,072 were reported from areas under the municipal corporations in the city, while 137 from areas outside its jurisdiction.