Dengue Death Toll Rises to 16; Over 2,000 Affected
The dengue crisis in Delhi intensifies.
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Delhi remained in the grip of panic over dengue as two minor girls died of it, taking the toll to 16 on a day the number of people down with the mosquito-borne fever crossed 2,000, as hospitals across the city continued to reel under acute pressure.
The Delhi government, which has been accused of not effectively dealing with the situation, said it was mulling bringing an ordinance to punish private hospitals refusing to provide treatment to patients in emergency situations.
Three-year-old Neha Mathur, a resident of Sangam Vihar, died on Wednesday at the Saket City Hospital and her distraught parents alleged that one government hospital and a private nursing home in South Delhi did not provide proper treatment for dengue to her.
A nine-year-old girl from Okhla died of dengue at the RML Hospital on Tuesday, doctors at the hospital said. With the death of the two children, the toll has gone up to 16.
As hospitals continued to be flooded with dengue patients, municipal officials said that the total number of cases crossed the 2,000-mark this year out of which around 1,200 were reported in the past two weeks.
The AAP government also set up a 200-bedded facility at an upcoming hospital, as a temporary arrangement to treat dengue patient in North West Delhi.
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