NEW DELHI: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday hit out at the Uttar Pradesh government over the deaths in the state, including of children, due to fever and alleged that concrete steps had not been taken to strengthen the health system.
She said that the news of the "death of 100 people including children" due to fever in Firozabad, Mathura, Agra and many other places in Uttar Pradesh is very worrying.
The state government has still not taken any concrete steps to strengthen the health system, the Congress general secretary alleged.
"Look at the condition of hospitals. Is this your 'Number 1' facility for treatment?" Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi and tagged a media report claiming that fever had gripped several districts in the state and in Firozabad the situation was grim with treatment being given on brick benches.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday transferred the chief medical officer of Firozabad, where about 41 people, mostly children, died of suspected dengue and viral fever.
Health officials said along with Firozabad, the spread of dengue is also suspected in Mathura.
"As of now, 41 persons including 36 children has died due to suspected dengue and viral fever in the Firozabad district. These deaths don't indicate a possible third wave of COVID as none of the admitted patients were found positive," said Dr Sangeeta Aneja, Principal, Government medical college, Firozabad.
"Multiple teams including a team from the Indian Council of Medical Research are investigating to find out the exact cause of these deaths and disease spread", added Aneja.
Yesterday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath orders the removal of the chief medical officer of the Firozabad district.
Earlier on Monday, UP CM visited the Autonomous State Medical College to enquire about the health of children who were admitted there and instructed the officials concerned to send special teams to Mathura, Mainpuri, and Firozabad districts to take appropriate steps to contain vector-borne diseases.
As many as 14 people, including 12 children, have died due to viral fever in Mathura district, said Dr Bhudev, who is the in-charge of the COVID control room, on Thursday.
"As of Thursday morning, the deaths due to viral fever in Mathura district have gone up to 14 from seven. Due to this, the villagers are in fear. We have set up temporary hospitals in the villages," said Dr Bhudev.
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In Koha village, over 50 families fled the village due to the spread of disease.
Meanwhile, the district administration and health department found symptoms of malaria and dengue in the samples they had collected. Moreover, teams from Delhi and Lucknow have reached the villages and stationed themselves here.
The samples also revealed that diseases like dengue, scrub typhus, malaria, leptospirosis are spreading in the village.
Navneet Singh Chahal, Mathura District Collector, told ANI, "Due to the spread of vector-borne disease like dengue or viral fever, we have set up 20 beds in Mathura district hospital and Vrindavan district hospital. Sanitisation and fogging are being carried out by sanitization workers. I request to villagers not to keep stagnating water in pots for a long time and regularly clean the utensils."
(With ANI inputs)