Least dengue cases in six years: Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain

NEW DELHI: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Wednesday claimed that the number of dengue cases recorded up till now is the lowest in the month of September in comparison to the previous years.

Jain said that instructions have been issued to the heads of various departments of the city government to take part in its anti-dengue campaign to ensure no breeding of mosquito larvae is found on their premises.

He further said dengue cases reported in the national capital to date are "under control" and the government is prepared to handle any situation arising out of the vector-borne disease.

The minister said that the number of coronavirus cases has also been under control for the last two months and by following proper COVID protocols, the society and the government can win over it together. 

Over 50 fresh cases of dengue have been reported in Delhi in last one week, taking the total count this year to more than 210, according to a civic report released on Monday.

In this month alone, 87 cases have been recorded till September 18, which is about 41 per cent of the cumulative cases. However, no deaths have been reported due to dengue in the city till now, it said.

Jain also said the government’s anti-dengue drive, Rs 10 Hafte, 10 Baje, 10 Minute’ is running for the last three weeks to raise awareness on its prevention. 

He also sought credit to the campaign in 2019 which was also carried forward last year, as a factor behind fewer cases of dengue being reported this year so far. Jain further accused the Centre of doing politics over the issue of oxygen crisis during the second wave of the pandemic by trying to stop the formation of a city government’s panel to probe deaths allegedly due to its shortage.

His remarks in response to a question during a press conference came a day after the HC said that it saw no difficulty in the constitution of a HPC by the AAP to probe the deaths.