9-year-old boy among Delhi’s first two dengue deaths this year

In October, the MCD reported 377 cases, the highest this year.

Meanwhile, 33 fresh cases of malaria were reported last week in the city. This takes the overall count to 623 — less than last year’s count but significantly higher compared to the number of cases recorded during the period in 2023, 2022 and 2021.

Furthermore, the city is witnessing the highest number of cases of chikungunya, another vector-borne disease, in the last five years with 133 cases registered so far this year.

According to senior MCD officials, houses are being regularly sprayed and challans are being issued to curb mosquito breeding. “We do not have a shortage of medicines and measures are being followed to minimise the spread of the diseases,” an official said.

After protesting for over a month over regularisation and other benefits, Multi Task Staff (MTS) workers, including domestic [mosquito] breeding checkers (DBC), and contractual field workers (CFW), recently called off their strike.

Domestic breeding checkers drive the city’s campaign against vector breeding. These workers are considered the backbone of the civic body in combating vector-borne diseases.