RAWALPINDI - As many as 21 more patients tested positive for dengue in Rawalpindi district, raising the tally of confirmed cases to 249.

District Coordinator Epidemics Prevention and Control (DCEPC), Dr Sajjad Mehmood, Thursday said that among the new cases, 13 patients had arrived from Pothohar Town urban area, two from Municipal Corporation, Rawalpindi and Islamabad while one case each had been reported from Rawalpindi Cantonment, Taxila Cantonment and Chountra.

During the last 24 hours, he added that as many as 130 dengue fever suspects were brought to the district’s health facilities while the district administration departments had registered three FIRs, sealed four, issued challans to six, notices to 41 and imposed a fine of Rs 62,000 on violations of SOPs in various areas of the district. The health officer said the present spell of rains had increased the threat of mosquito breeding which needed to be tackled on emergency basis, while the Pakistan Meteorological Department has forecast more rains in the following days.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Tahir Farooq visited various district areas to check the activities of surveillance teams and directed the officials to ensure the implementation of standard operating procedures and create awareness among the people about the hazards of the dengue because of the increasing number of its cases.

In addition, Tahir called upon the residents to keep an eye on junkyards, schools and under-construction buildings and remove water to prevent the spread of dengue larvae.