LAHORE: With four more deaths, Punjab reported 561 new positive cases of dengue, including over 300 from Lahore, during the last 24 hours.
The total number of positive cases reached 16,907 in Punjab since January this year. The public sector hospitals are overcrowded with dengue patients. During a visit to Medical Unit Ward of Ganga Ram Hospital, two patients were seen on a single bed.
The reports from the state-run hospitals of the City said the beds for admission of dengue patients had run short. Two to three patients were sharing a bed at the major teaching hospitals of the city while many others were forced to get treatment on stretchers in the corridors of the health facilities.
Health experts expect that the number of dengue cases will start decreasing at the start of December, as the mosquito carrying virus does not survive in extreme coldness. They urged the people to adopt precautionary measures to avoid the disease.
Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid said on Saturday the government was taking steps to control dengue. She said the distribution of Health Card would be completed in the province till March 2022 aimed at providing maximum health facilities to people. Under this card entitlement, the head of the family can avail medical treatment of up to Rs1 million from more than three hundred private hospitals in the province. She said that the government was taking solid steps to improve women's health.
Talking about the Covid-19 pandemic she said, the vaccination process has been geared up across the province to get rid from the coronavirus, adding that 52 percent of the province population has been vaccinated of first dose.
On the other hand, Opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz has slammed the PTI-led Punjab government for not taking care of dengue patients. "The people are dying of dengue but the government is not paying any attention to handle the situation and provide ease to the dengue patient," he said.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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