News Desk :
Authorities reported 70 more dengue cases in 24 hours until Monday morning amid a surge in the mosquito-borne disease.
Some 209 patients diagnosed with dengue are receiving treatment at different government and private hospitals across the country as of Monday morning, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Of them, one patient is receiving treatment at a hospital outside Dhaka.
Some 796 patients have been admitted to different hospitals with dengue since January and 587 of them have been released after recovery.
The recent spike in dengue cases has added to the worries as the country continues to grapple with the devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Mobile court drives will be conducted in the two city corporations of capital Dhaka soon in an effort to control any possible dengue outbreak, Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) Minister Md Tajul Islam told to the media.
“Legal action will be taken against those if anyone is found responsible for breeding Aedes mosquitoes and breaching government directives through fine and other punishment, no matter whether the establishments are owned by the government or not. You’ve no right to harm the lives and property of people,” Tajul warned.
The DGHS reported 1,193 dengue cases and three confirmed dengue-related deaths in 2020.
According to official figures, 101,354 dengue cases and 179 deaths were recorded in Bangladesh in 2019.
Dengue fever was first reported in Bangladesh in 2000 when it claimed 93 lives. In the following three years, the fatalities almost fell to zero.
However, the mosquito-borne viral infection struck again in 2018, killing 26, and infecting 10,148 people.