At least 15 more people, including Punjab Public Service Commission Member Ghiasuddin, lost their lives to the deadly dengue virus in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday, with 10 of the deceased belonging to Lahore alone.
The Punjab Health Department put the toll of the people killed by the virus at 30, belying unofficial figures, according to which more than 60 people have succumbed to the apparently out-of-control virus thus far.
Per details, four patients died at Mayo Hospital, two at Services Hospital, one at Lahore General Hospital, while the remaining lost their lives in private health centres across the city. Sources said the dengue death toll in Lahore had crossed 60 and feared that several casualties remained unreported. Moreover, another 441 people in Punjab, 393 in Lahore alone, were diagnosed with dengue fever. Sources said the number of patients testing positive for dengue on Wednesday was “in thousands”. The Walton and Cantonment areas seemed most-affected by the virus, a senior doctor at Lahore General Hospital told Pakistan Today. However, the Punjab Health Department said only 349 patients were admitted to hospitals and all others had been discharged after treatment. The Punjab Board of Information Technology has reportedly finalised a software to form a database of dengue patients across the province and the software would soon be handed over to hospitals for registering dengue patients, sources said.
Shahbaz orders cleanliness: Moreover, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif directed a meeting of the special committee to vigorously pursue the campaign to sensitise the public about house, street and outdoor cleanliness. He said the government was doing all to control the epidemic, but desired results could not be achieved without the participation of the general public. Shahbaz said over a 100 dispensaries were being set up to treat dengue patients and this had reduced the burden on major hospitals.
Meanwhile, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Services Department issued fresh figures on dengue virus, according to which, five patients had died of the disease across the province, while 95 cases had been confirmed out of 198 suspected ones. Three students of Mohmand Agency have also fallen victim to the virus. The Sindh government also issued directive under Section 144 to close all swimming pools across the province as a precautionary arrangement to prevent the outbreak of dengue. According to the directive, all pools in hotels, schools and farmhouses would remain closed for 60 days.
