CHENNAI: Amid the pandemic and rain-related problems, there seems to be no respite for the State government as it also has to deal with the rising number of dengue cases. Till Sunday, the State reported 3,752 dengue cases this year, as per data shared exclusively with TNIE.
On Monday, the Union Health Ministry’s Dengue Control Team inspected parts of Chennai, where more cases were reported. The team, from the Regional Office of the Health and Family Welfare Ministry, Regional Director of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Dr Roshini Arthur, Chief Medical Officer Dr Nirmal Joe, and consultant entomologist Dr N A Johnson Amala Justin, met Health Minister Ma Subramanian and Health Secretary J Radhakrishna and discussed the dengue situation, and steps needed.
The Central team has been visiting States and Union Territories, including Kerala, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Delhi, where a large number of dengue cases have been reported. Last year, Tamil Nadu reported 2,410 dengue cases. This year, till September, 2,875 cases and zero deaths were reported, as per data from the Union Health Ministry.
Subramanian on Monday said the State is reporting 10-20 dengue cases daily, and presently has only 493 active cases, of which 20 are being treated in Chennai. He also said that only 30,000 tests were done last October, compared to 1.21 lakh in the same month this year.
The Central team will visit the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and interact with the patients there, and also will visit Tiruvallur district on Tuesday. The team visited Ranipet on Sunday and expressed satisfaction over the preventive and control measures being undertaken there, the minister added. On Monday, the Government Institute of Child Health, Egmore alone had about 40 dengue cases admitted. “But all the children are fine. None of them are very sick,” said a senior doctor at the hospital.