The government on Friday confirmed that dengue has spread to all corners of Bangladesh, indicating that the situation has taken a turn for the worse.
“We can say without a doubt that there’re dengue patients in all 64 districts,” Health Emergency Operations Center DGHS control room’s doctor Borhan told UNB on Friday evening.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said 1,687 new patients were hospitalised across the country in the last 24 hours until Friday morning. Of them, 996 cases were reported from Dhaka alone, the densely-populated megacity at the heart of the dengue outbreak.
But Borhan suggested that the number could be higher. “We didn’t receive reports from all hospitals as it was weekend.”
Official data showed that 21,235 people were hospitalised with dengue since January 1. Of them, 18,842 patients were admitted to hospitals since July 2. So far, 14,639 people were discharged after their recovery.
Although the government claimed that 14 dengue patients have so far died, unofficial estimates suggest the death toll is higher.
Currently, 6,582 patients, including children, are undergoing treatment at hospitals, according to the daily dengue report of the Health Emergency Operations Centre and Control Room of the Directorate General of Health Services.
Between Thursday and Friday morning, 190 patients were admitted to hospitals outside Dhaka.
In Mymensingh Division, 78 new patients were admitted to hospital in the last 24 hours. Hospitals in Khulna Division admitted 91 new patients, including a child. Eleven new cases were reported in Sylhet Division, 119 in Chattogram Division, 38 in Rangpur Division, 87 in Rajshahi Division, and 77 in Barishal Division.
“There’s no doubt that aedes mosquitoes and dengue have spread across the country,” Awami League’s General Secretary Obaidul Quader told the media in the morning.
The BNP has criticised the government for failing to tackle the situation and suggested declaring a state of emergency. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir recommended taking immediate steps to save people instead of making the situation a political issue.
“Dengue has spread all over the country. Experts are saying the situation will continue to worsen. We think the government should declare a state of emergency to face the situation through united efforts,” he said.