Rawalpindi continues to experience a rise in dengue cases, with the District Health Authority confirming 19 new infections within the last 24 hours. Currently, 28 patients are receiving treatment at hospitals across the city, and no deaths have been reported. This year, over 20,000 people have been tested, and 1,561 have been diagnosed with dengue.
Health teams have so far inspected more than 6.19 million houses, finding larvae in over 209,000 of them. They also examined 1.78 million commercial and public sites, detecting larvae at nearly 28,000 locations. Over 228,000 larvae have been eliminated as part of ongoing efforts.
To enforce dengue prevention rules, authorities have lodged 4,736 FIRs, sealed 1,909 premises, and issued 3,664 challans, collecting fines totaling Rs11.34 million.
Medical experts caution that actual case numbers could be higher since data from private healthcare facilities is often excluded. They stress the need for strengthened fumigation, adequate staffing at hospital dengue counters, and affordable testing.
The Health Department has faced criticism for poor management of dengue control operations. Third-party surveys have found larvae even in areas previously declared clear. Instead of holding senior officials responsible, authorities have dismissed lower-level dengue workers, with more terminations expected. Additionally, frontline teams still lack essential government-funded devices and internet access needed for digital surveillance, despite allocated budgets.
Due to the worsening situation, a dengue emergency has been declared across both public and private hospitals in the city.
In public awareness effort, Punjab Authorities Issue Widespread Dengue Warning
