The Punjab Health Department claimed on Sunday that the worst of the dengue epidemic was over, even as the deadly virus claimed its 100th victim after another 10 patients died of the fever in the last 24 hours. The Health Department confirmed the number of deaths from dengue had reached 100, 91 of which had happened in Lahore.
Agriculture Secretary Capt (r) Arif Nadeem said in a briefing that 434 confirmed cases of dengue had been reported during the last 24 hours in Punjab, of which 379 were reported in Lahore. The total number of confirmed patients of dengue in the province was 10,215, out of which 9,148 belonged to Lahore, he added. However, he said that mass of people at hospitals had lessened, and that a mega cell separator machine each had been provided to Mayo Hospital and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.
In addition, he said, platelets were also being obtained from Hussaini Hematology and Cancer Centre, Karachi. The secretary said further that the government had allowed all teaching hospitals of Lahore to recruit doctors and paramedics according to their requirements and on orders from the chief minister, additional resources had also been provided to the hospitals.
Nadeem said a special meeting had been held with the representatives of companies manufacturing anti-mosquito sprays and insecticides, in which owners of the companies were told to keep the prices of these products reasonable so that people were not overcharged. The dengue virus also struck the north of the country, with another woman perishing from the disease in Mardan on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Sialkot faced an acute shortage of paracetamol, Calpol syrup and anti-allergy medicine and injections in medical stores.
