No let-up in dengue crisis, 86 fresh cases reported

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 20

As many as 86 fresh cases of dengue were reported from the tricity and the surrounding areas today, taking the total number to 825. While 19 new cases were reported from the city, six were reported from Panchkula and 61 from Mohali district.

With the increase in the dengue count, the rush of patients at OPDs of hospitals in the tricity has increased. Long queues of patients were seen today outside the OPDs at hospitals, especially at Government Multi Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, where a special "fever OPD" has been set up.

According to officials of the UT Health Department, most of the cases of dengue were being reported from Sectors 15, 41, 42 and 45, Mani Majra, Maloya and Mauli Jagran. No fresh case of chikungunya was reported from the tricity today. The testing facility for chikungunya has been started at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, and will soon be started at the GMSH, said a health official.

A resident of Sector 2, Panchkula, retired BSF commandant DP Sharma, had recently died of dengue.

UT dengue helpline: 9779558282

Badnore reviews situation

With the number of dengue, chikungunya and malaria cases spiralling, UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore on Tuesday reviewed the situation in Chandigarh. Presiding over a meeting of senior officers at the UT Secretariat, Badnore asked the UT Director, Health Services, Dr Vanita Gupta, to explain in detail the steps taken by the department to check the outbreak of dengue and chikungunya.