Giving a clarion call to people to join dengue control efforts, Deputy Chief Minister Punjab who also holds the portfolio of Health, asked people to observe 'dry-day' in the State every Sunday, unfailingly. "To check the surge of dengue, it is mandatory that people clean all sorts of water containers at least once a week and break the larva breeding cycle," he said.
Reviewing the status of dengue spread and the control measures put in place, in a virtual meeting with all the Civil Surgeons and the epidemiologists of the state, Soni informed that twelve lakh eighty thousand six hundred and forty five (12,80645) households have been inspected and mosquito breeding was seen in 21,683 households. So, it is mandatory that people check water accumulation in their houses said he. In order to involve maximum people in observance of dry-day, it is necessary to change the dry-day observance from Friday to Sunday because it is easier for working people to spare time for cleanliness/emptying containers on weekend and directed that henceforth, instead of Friday the Dry Day will be observed on Sunday. "This will give breeding inspection teams access to a greater number of households since more people would be at home to facilitate breeding inspection as compared to any other day of the week," he added.
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In the wake of the rising number of dengue cases, "We have intensified Dengue control measures. Larva breeding inspection has been stepped up; strength of breeding checkers has been increased almost twofold", informed DCM adding that 220 new breeding checkers have been roped in to support the existing 480 breeding checkers. The deployment of the number of additional breeding checkers per district has been done in proportion to the magnitude of dengue spread and the geographical area of the district, said Soni. The larvicide and insecticides distribution has also been stepped up and IEC activities have been escalated statewide. Besides, the workforce of Municipal Corporation/Committees and that of Rural Development Department is augmenting the inspection teams and are assisting in fogging and spraying of larvicide. The dengue hotspots and probable high-risk areas have been identified and focussed control efforts are afoot.
Diagnosis and treatment efforts have also been strengthened. A requisite supply of dengue diagnostic kits is being made available. Nearly 28,000 tests have been done detecting approximately ten thousand dengue-positive cases resulting in timely medical intervention. Fully equipped dedicated dengue wards have been set up in requisite hospitals, he informed.
DCM informed that as compared to the last week downward dengue trend has been observed this week in some districts which are encouraging but "we will continue sustained efforts till we successfully check the spike throughout the state."
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The Minister directed Civil Surgeons to rope in local members of the Indian Medical Association(IMA) and local TV/ radio channels in furthering information dissemination and continue with breeding checking, spraying and fogging, unabated. He made it categorically clear to all the Civil Surgeons to "work pro-actively in crisis management mode else be prepared to be transferred."
Health Secretary Vikas Garg and Dr. Andesh Kang Director of Health and Family Welfare were also present on the occasion.