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Two more people died from dengue and 53 others were hospitalised with the viral infection in the 24 hours till Sunday morning as cases have been creeping up again in Bangladesh.
All the deceased were from Cox’s Bazar. Thirty-five new patients were admitted to the hospitals of Dhaka and 18 outside it, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Two hundred and twenty-two dengue patients, including 170 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country.
This year, the DGHS has recorded 1,723 dengue cases and 1,498 recoveries so far. Up to now, the health authorities have reported three deaths from the mosquito-borne viral disease.
On June 21, the DGHS reported the first death of the season from dengue.
Dengue – a leading cause of serious illness and death in some Asian and Latin American countries – was first reported in Bangladesh in 2000 and claimed 93 lives. In three years, the fatality number almost fell to zero.
However, 105 dengue patients, including 95 in Dhaka division, died in 2021.
Meanwhile, dengue situation in the country is still under control this year due to the combined efforts of the ministry, city mayors and people , said LGRD Minister Md Tazul Islam on Sunday.
“In the last two or three years, many people were infected with dengue and unfortunately some of them died. But overall, we were and still are in a good position compared to other countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines,” he said.
He was speaking at a programme ‘Launching of 2020 Global State of the World Volunteerism Report: Strengthening volunteerism towards inclusive, balanced societies and support to SDGs in Bangladesh’ at the Public Health Engineering Department in the city.
Besides, Dhaka city is witnessing less waterlogging this monsoon as Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) has handed over the canals to city corporations to evict illegal establishments on those, said the minister.
Re-excavation of the canals is also behind the end of capital’s waterlogging problem, he added.
Now, the main challenge in the whole country including Dhaka city is the proper management of waste, said Tajul Islam.
“We have already started working on it. The government has taken an initiative to generate electricity from waste and very soon this work will start all over the country including Dhaka, Gazipur, Chattogram and Narayanganj.”
LGRD Ministry, Disaster Management and Relief Ministry and United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and UNDP Bangladesh organised the event.
