Satyendra Jain refutes allegations of Delhi Government’s incapability to handle Chikungunya

The death toll due to dengue in the national capital mounted to 14 as AIIMS today confirmed the five cases of fatalities due to the vector-borne disease which has also affected over 1,150 people this season.

Five deaths have taken place at Apollo Hospital and most of the victims were aged 80 or above.

The first death caused by health complications triggered by chikungunya was that of a 22-year-old woman on 1 September at Bara Hindu Rao Hospital.

Chairing a high-level meeting here to review the status of dengue and chikungunya in India, with special focus on Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), Mr Nadda said there was no shortage of drugs and testing facilities to counter the recent upsurge.

When 5 people died and 2,000 cases of chikungunya were reported in just two days in Delhi, the blame game is going viral with the CM saying that he can not even buy a pen with Rs.10 without the consent of the Lieutenant Governor is an ultimate show-down between the de jure and de facto powers.

Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital chairman of microbiology department Dr Chand Wattal said, “The existing chikungunya virus has not shown up in the “IgM chikungunya serology test”. “Most of them had associated co-morbid disease conditions and complications like chronic kidney disease, coronary artery disease, which affect the course of recovery”, Apollo Hospital said.

“The government has established dedicated Fever Clinics in its 26 hospitals (functional 24 hours), 262 Delhi government dispensaries (functional from 8 a.m.to 4 p.m.) and 106 Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics (functional from 8 a.m.to 2 p.m.) to cater to fever patients”, said an official statement.

Government-run Safdarjung Hospital officials told IANS that 10-12 senior faculty members have tested positive for chikungunya, while at least 25 junior doctors, including senior and junior residents, are suffering from chikungunya and dengue. “He too was admitted in ICU on September 11 and his RT-PCR test came positive”, SGRH authorities said. Last year, 99,913 cases of dengue were reported while the vector-borne disease had claimed the lives of 220. “There are 200 deaths in Delhi every day, but nobody asks about it”, he told a press conference.

Kejriwal, who is in Bengaluru, said on Tuesday that he is left with no power even to “buy a pen” and that people should question the “Prime Minister and lieutenant Governor”. One should ask what the MCD is doing. AAP’s Delhi convener Dilip Pandey also made a similar appeal, saying everyone, including the elected representatives of BJP and AAP, should work together to combat chikungunya. The people come for treatment at last stage. “The second was addressed by the Secretary and the third was done by heads of vector borne diseases”, he said.