KARAIKAL: Puducherry Transport Minister S Chandira Priyanga said on Monday that severity of diarrhoea outbreak is reducing in Karaikal.
She was talking to reporters after visited the Karaikal General Hospital. Chandira Priyanga said, "People need not panic. Those who are getting admitted also need not be afraid. Diarrhoea need not necessarily mean cholera. Patients are recovering quickly and there are only a few left at the hospital. We can thus say the severity is reducing."
Diarrhoea and cholera outbreak in Karaikal has led to the declaration of public health emergency and Section 144 M(22) in the district.
According to the Health Department, over 1,600 fell ill and around 730 were admitted in the past two weeks. Puducherry's PWD began cleaning overhead water tanks across the Karaikal district, including the tanks in schools. The schools have been declared holiday for three days from Monday.
The minister urged people to wash their hands well with soap and always drink boiled water. Invoking Section 144 is not to create panic among people or restrict them at houses, but to ensure clean drinking water is provided in the district, she added.
Officials said they are identifying sources of contamination, sampling and testing water, chlorinating water and continuing campaigns.