KARACHI/LAHORE/ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: With the rise of cases of dengue on the rise across the country that has been accompanied by a shortage in medicines and space in government hospitals, provincial and federal authorities have ordered local administration to take steps to curtail the virus.

The anti-enroachment department in Sindh has been tasked with awareness and mobilisation, including going to small businesses such as nurseries and tyre shops that involved water and where dengue mosquitoes’ larvae can be found. Similarly, in Punjab, fish are being released in pools of standing water as they are known to eat mosquitoes as well as their eggs.

The increase in anti-dengue activities comes as Karachi and the rest of the country witness a sharp rise in cases.

In Sindh, 402 cases were reported in the last 24 hours. Of those, 298 cases were from Karachi, with the city reporting 30 casualties from the disease so far this year

Of the cases in Karachi, 86 were reported in Korangi, 82 in District East and 66 in the Central District. District South and Malir reported 25 cases each, while 11 cases were from District West and two in Kemari. So far, Karachi has reported 3,843 dengue cases in September.

For the rest of Sindh, Hyderabad reported 59 cases in the last 24 hours. Mirpurkhas reported 34 cases while nine cases were reported from Shaheed Benazirabad.

With floods submerging parts of the province and washing away infrastructure, those rendered homeless are critically exposed with fears that a large number of cases are going undetected.

Punjab

The virus claimed at least two more lives in the province, taking the overall death toll eight.

In the last 24 hours, 271 cases were reported in the province. Of those, 112 cases were reported in Rawalpindi, 108 in Lahore and 23 in Gujranwala.

The casualties included a patient each from Lahore and Rawalpindi.

So far, three patients have died in Lahore, two each in Gujranwala and Rawalpindi and one in Gujarat.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The northern province of KP reported 360 new cases during the last 24 hours. It includes 136 new cases in the provincial capital Peshawar.

Mardan reported 134 new cases and Swabi reported 34.

With the latest increase, the total number of cases in the province have increased to 5,869. Of those, 1,351 cases have been reported in Peshawar.

The provincial health departmetn said that Mardan had the highest number of caews with 1,858.

So far six patients have died of dengue in the province.

Islamabad

The federal capital reported 77 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of people affected by dengue to 1,734.

Of the 77 new cases, 41 were reported in rural areas and 36 new cases were reported in tge urban population

Islamabad has reported five dengue deaths so far this season.