'Close to winning battle': Delhi CM urges citizens to participate in fight against dengue outbreak

The chief minister's assertion comes amid a surge in dengue cases in the last two weeks, and the first death due to it was reported on Monday.

Image used for representational purpose only. (Photo | Pandarinath B/EPS)

NEW DELHI:  With two weeks left for the government’s anti vector borne disease campaign to end, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged the city residents to actively join the movement to check the rising 
dengue menace in the city.

‘Only two weeks remain, Delhi will defeat dengue again’, is the tagline of this week’s campaign. “Delhi is now very close to winning the battle against dengue. Like previous weeks, this Sunday at 10 AM, let us all spend 10 minutes inspecting our homes and surrounding areas for any sign of stagnant water. If you do find water, drain it, replace it or cover with a small layer of oil. Together, let us all make the city dengue free,” said Kejriwal.

After a gap of two years, the dengue cases in the city are showing upward trends. Every week, cases are increasing, as per the reports of the civic body. The govt recently claimed that 25 per cent of beds are occupied by people who are not from the national capital. 

“All the city residents are being made aware of changing the water of their coolers, pots, etc. every week by joining the campaign and cleaning the accumulated water around them. We all have to work together to stop mosquito breeding. We all have to do this for 10 weeks to defeat dengue,” the CM stated.

According to a civic report on vector-borne diseases released on Monday, one death due to dengue, and a total of 723 dengue cases have been recorded this season till October 16, which is highest case count since 2018 for the same period. Of the total count of dengue cases recorded in the national capital this year, 382 have been reported till October 16, which amounts to nearly 52 per cent of the cumulative cases.

A total of 1,072 cases and one death was logged in the entire year in 2020. In 2015, the city had witnessed a massive outbreak of dengue, when the number of dengue cases reported has crossed 10,600 in October itself, making it the worst outbreak of the vector-borne disease in the national capital since 1996.

(With PTI inputs)