RAWALPINDI: As many as 69 people were diagnosed with dengue virus in the garrison city`s three government-run hospitals on Thursday. The tally of cases has now reached 1,052.

As many as 231 confirmed dengue patients are admitted in hospitals including 83 patients in Holy Family Hospital (HFH), 75 patients in Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) and 73 in District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital. As many as 166 ofthese patients belong to Rawalpindi District, 60 are from Islamabad, two are from Haripur and three are from Attock.

Punjab Minister for Primary and Secondary Health Dr Alchter Malik directed the local administration to speed up work to eliminate dengue larvae from the district and said that all resources must be utilised to avoid further spread of the virus.

He said this during a meeting held at the Deputy Commissioner`s Office on Thursday accompanied by Deputy Speaker Punjab Assembly Wasig Qayyum. The meeting was attended by DeputyCommissioner Tahir Farooq, District Health Authority Chef Executive Officer Dr Anser Ishaq and other senior officials of the local administration.

The meeting was informed that there were 15 union councils declared sensitive in the district as mostly patients arrived from theseareas and special attention was given on fogging activities and detection of larvae.

The minister said that there was dire need to educate the people about dengue, adding that fogging would be started in badly hit areas of Rawalpindi.