Firozabad CMO shifted, schools till Class 8 closed till Sept 6

A health department team from Lko has reached Firozabad while ICMR team is expected on Thursday to monitor the situation

AGRA: Schools up to Class 8 had been closed till September 6 while the chief medical officer (CMO) of Firozabad was transferred on Wednesday amid the rising number of deaths due to dengue-like fever in the bangle city. So far, 41 deaths (including 36 children) had been confirmed by the additional director, health. The health department’s team from Lucknow had reached Firozabad while another team from the ICMR was expected to reach the city on Thursday.

The UP government transferred CMO, Neeta Kulshreshtha, from Firozabad to Aligarh’s Malkhan Singh District Hospital as senior consultant. Additional CMO at Hapur, Dr Dinesh Kumar Premi, was asked to take charge as Firozabad CMO with immediate effect.

“As many as 41 deaths due to suspected dengue fever have been reported in Firozabad. Of these, 36 were children and five adults. Patients are responding to treatment of dengue and reports of samples also confirm that most of the cases are of dengue,” stated Dr AK Singh, additional director (health).

“The team of medical experts from Lucknow has arrived and is doing a door-to-door survey to know more about the disease. Lucknow’s ICMR team will be visiting Firozabad on Thursday,” he stated.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, during his visit to Firozabad on Monday, had confirmed 39 deaths (including 32 children). “The number of deaths could be around 60 in the last 10 days. The number is feared to rise in the days ahead, if no proper measures are taken,” said a local.

“The state government has taken effective steps and transferred Firozabad CMO. Senior doctors are being asked to remain present at the hospital where these patients are admitted. Surveillance is being conducted in slum areas to trace children falling ill,” stated Manish Asija, BJP MLA from Firozabad, who also admitted that the number of deaths could be more than what was claimed by health authorities.

However, the opposition party leaders blamed the local administration and health authorities at Firozabad for their “slow reaction to deaths caused by fever all through August.”

“Health authorities responded to deaths only after the chief minister’s visit to Firozabad. Had there been timely action, many precious lives could have been saved,” alleged Avnindra Yadav, state secretary of the Samajwadi Party.

Firozabad district magistrate Chandra Vijay Singh informed that schools till Class 8 had been closed till September 6. But he was not categorical in revealing the number of deaths due to the dengue-like fever.

Meanwhile, locals were furious over water-logging in 8 to 10 localities of old city area in Firozabad during the rainy season and blamed the civic bodies for the mess.

“We are making efforts to minimise water-logging in lowlying areas and fogging is being undertaken here.

As a micro strategy against suspected dengue, residents are being asked to avoid storage of water,” stated Prerna Sharma, municipal commissioner of Firozabad.