LAHORE: Dengue claimed a life in Punjab during the last 24 hours while 459 people tested positive taking the provincial tally to 6,727 on Sunday.

The death was reported in Rawalpindi while as many as 335 cases were reported in Lahore, 64 in Rawalpindi, eight in Attock, six in Khanewal, five in Gujrat, four each in Faisalabad, Muzaffargarh, Okara and Sahiwal, three each in Hafizabad and Sheikhupura and two in Chakwal.

A total of 1,745 patients have been admitted to hospitals across Punjab out of which 799 are in Lahore.

Health Secretary Imran Sikandar Baloch said 3,644 beds are currently allocated for dengue in hospitals across Punjab.

Nine more Covid fatalities across Punjab

He said the specialised healthcare department has set aside 403 more beds [for dengue] in all teaching hospitals of Lahore and 246 in rest of teaching hospitals of Punjab, taking total tally to 1,506.

He said 1,745 patients were under treatment on dengue allocated beds in Punjab while 799 beds were currently occupied by dengue patients in Lahore.

In the last 24 hours, 430,870 indoor locations were checked across Punjab while 95,303 outdoor locations were checked, while larvae were destroyed from 2,250 locations.

In Lahore, 76,113 indoor places were checked for dengue larvae, 10,412 outdoor locations were checked and 1,563 positive containers were destroyed.

Mr Baloch said precautionary measures against dengue should also be taken besides taking steps against coronavirus.

COVID: As many as 221 new cases were reported in the province during the last 24 hours on Sunday.

The total number of cases has reached 437,807 and 415,506 patients have fully recovered in the province, bringing the total number of active cases to 12,839 till date.

Three deaths were recorded in Lahore whereas nine people lost their lives in Punjab due to coronavirus during the last 24 hours.

As many as 112 positive corona cases were reported in Lahore, 23 in Rawalpindi, 13 in Faisalabad and Multan, 10 in Sargodha, five in Sheikhupura and Toba Tek Singh, four in Mianwali and Gujrat, three in Dera Ghazi Khan, Gujranwala, Layyah, Muzaffargarh and Pakpattan respectively.

During the last 24 hours, the overall rate of positivity was recorded at 1.3 per cent in cities of the province, while the rate of positive cases in the provincial capital Lahore was 2.9pc, 1.3pc in Rawalpindi, 1.0pc in Faisalabad, 1.5pc in Multan and 0.4pc in Gujranwala.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2021