Zirakpur resident dies of dengue, toll 13

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 23

A Zirakpur resident died of dengue at the PGI here today, taking the total number of deaths reported from tricity hospitals to 13. The total number of dengue cases reported from the tricity and the surrounding areas today was 58 — 39 from Mohali district, 18 from Chandigarh and one from Panchkula.

The tricity count of confirmed dengue cases has gone up to 1,001 — 222 from Chandigarh, 700 from Mohali district and 79 from Panchkula. The total number of chikungunya cases recorded from the tricity and the surrounding areas has reached 27, including 11 new cases reported from the GMCH, Sector 32, and the PGI today. While the UT Health Department listed nine of these as “wrong address”, of the remaining, nine are said to be from Chandigarh and six  “imported”.

Yesterday, three dengue  deaths were reported from various health institutions in Chandigarh. While two of the patients were from Mohali district, the third one was from Ladwa village in Haryana. Earlier, five deaths were reported from city hospitals, including one patient each from Yamunanagar, Kharar, Jalandhar, Jind and Raipur Rani. Besides, two dengue deaths each have been reported from Mohali and Panchkula.

UT, Mohali, Panchkula health officials take stock

After much delay, a joint meeting of health officials of the UT, Mohali and Panchkula was held here on Friday to discuss dengue and chikungunya. 

The meeting was attended by the Director, Health and Family Welfare, UT,  and the civil surgeons of Mohali and Panchkula.

During the meeting, it was decided that a list of all confirmed cases of dengue and chikungunya reported from the UT and the two districts would be shared by the three.  

Accordingly, an intensive survey and drives will be carried out by the field staff of the respective districts around residences of patients to control the spread of the infection by curbing the breeding of mosquitoes especially in those areas.

It was also decided that the home-to-home drives to check water stagnation/collection and to stop breeding will be intensified in the border areas.