LAHORE  -  As many as 37 new dengue vi­rus cases were reported in the provincial metropolis, on Fri­day. According to the Health department sources, besides the dengue virus cases, 1,185 larvae spots were reported in the last 24 hours, with many patients under treatment in different hospitals of the city.

Various squads conducted sur­veillance at indoor and outdoor places to detect dengue larvae during the last 24 hours. The anti-dengue squad destroyed dengue larvae at 1,185 places in the province during continu­ing surveillance. Sources said that on Friday, 37 new patients of dengue fever were reported in Lahore. It is worth mention­ing here that moreover, 2,678 beds have been allocated for dengue patients in hospitals across Punjab, the Health de­partment said. It may be men­tioned here that Deputy Com­missioner (DC) Lahore Rafia Haider, Additional Deputy Com­missioners, and Assistant Com­missioners are continuously paying surprise visits to check the performance of dengue teams working on the ground, in the wake of increasing den­gue cases after rains. The DC reviewed the performance of dengue teams in various towns of Lahore. Checking of more than 5,000 places would be en­sured on daily basis, she said. Meanwhile, in a statement is­sued recently, Ms. Haider an­nounced that the number of dengue surveillance could be increased, keeping in mind the rain alerts of the Meteorologi­cal department. Issuing direc­tions for controlling dengue, she warned all town officers to surely complete the set targets on a daily basis. She vowed to monitor various hotspots areas in the city with swift and strict surveillance, urging citizens to not let water accumulate in their homes and surroundings.

Rafia Haider sternly warned the authorities and staff con­cerned that no negligence would be tolerated regarding the anti-dengue campaign. The DC directed all assistant commissioners and health of­ficials to remain in the field and inspect performance of dengue workers on a daily ba­sis in their jurisdiction. Mean­while, A meeting under the chair of Secretary Transport Ahmed Javed Qazi was held to review pre-smog actions in light of the directives of Chief Minister Punjab Mohsin Naq­vi. Addressing the meeting, the secretary stated that the Punjab Transport Department officials have imposed restric­tions under the Punjab Envi­ronmental Protection (Control and Prevention of Smog) Rules 2023 on vehicles spreading pollution (emitting smoke) and the use of substandard fuels throughout the province. He explained that multiple ac­tions were taken against vari­ous vehicles in Punjab under this law. He informed that a total of 884 vehicles were in­spected across Punjab. Among them, 17 vehicles were issued warnings, 23 were seized, 272 were fined for violations, and a total fine of Rs 2.51 million was collected.