RAWALPINDI: There is no let-up in dengue cases as the city’s three government hospitals received 59 more patients on Monday, taking the tally of the season to 721. Officials said 47 of the patients were from Rawalpindi, one from Attock and the others from Islamabad. A total of 199 dengue patients are admitted in the Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi Teaching Hospital, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and tehsil headquarters hospitals. Most of the patients arrived from Chak Jalaldin, Lakkhan, Gulistan Colony, Lane 4 Peshawar Road, Chaklala Scheme-III, Chaudhry Bostan Khan Road, Khanna Dak, Asghar Mall Scheme, Jamia Masjid Road, Dhoke Dalal, Dhoke Mangtal, Pirwadhai Mor, Morah Noori, Takhat Pari and adjoining areas. According to official figures, five of the dengue patients were critical. As many as 719 dengue cases have reported in Rawalpindi this year while 825 patients had reported to hospitals in 2023 and 1649 in 2022. Addressing a press conference, Deputy Commissioner Dr Hassan Waqar Cheema said on the instructions of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz focus had been given on dengue in Rawalpindi. “Compared to last year, the number of dengue cases is less this year,” he said. Accompanied by District Health Authority Chief Executive Officer Dr Asif Arbab Niazi, the deputy commissioner said 50 private clinics had been sealed which were not reporting the dengue cases. He said the district administration as working on proposals to conduct dengue tests at lower rates in all private laboratories. He said surveillance teams checked government buildings every three days. He said action will be taken if larvae were found in any government building. The deputy commissioner said 200mm rain was recorded in August this year which led to an increase in the dengue cases. “How long has the government continued cleaning people’s houses? The citizens will also have to cooperate.” He said that 3,000 cases had been registered this year for violation of dengue SOPs and 1100 sites sealed along with a fine of Rs14.9 million imposed on the violators. Compared to previous years, he added, we have fewer teams this year, but still statistics on the dengue activity are high. He said that from January 1, during indoor surveillance, 402,033 houses were checked and larvae recovered from 43,000 houses while the checking of 1.1 million places in the outdoor surveillance led to the detection of larvae at 4,644 places. He said announcements were also being made in mosques regarding dengue in high risk union councils. Citizens should provide their support and help the government control dengue, the DC added. Meanwhile, Secretary Primary and Secondary Health Nadia Saqib said that dengue situation in Rawalpindi was being closely monitored and all possible steps were being taken to control its spread. She said that on the instructions of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, she visited Rawalpindi and reviewed the measures for the prevention of dengue with the aim of further improving the measures taken by the government. The secretary along with the deputy commissioner and the health authority chief visited Chak Jalaldin Union Council and inspected a medical camp. The secretary appreciated the efforts of the district administration and Rawalpindi Health Department against dengue. Later, the secretary also visited the houses of dengue patients.