Shawdesh Desk:

Dhaka South city mayor Mohammad Sayeed Khokon on Sunday finally admitted that the dengue situation in Dhaka was now worrying.

The mayor made the comment after visiting dengue patients at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital three days after he had dubbed the dengue menace as a ‘rumour’.

‘The dengue situation is worrying and we are working hard to contain the  menace,’ Sayeed Khokon told reporters.

The mayor sought cooperation of all to prevent the spread of Aedes mosquito, responsible for the disease.

The mayor on several occasions said the situation was under control and it was not worrying although the number of dengue patients admitted to different hospitals in the city broke past records.

Dengue has reportedly claimed 35 lives so far this year with the official figure being eight.

Hospital officials said that they could not control the situation at hospitals as patients rush to hospitals was making new records.

The mayor said he would distribute mosquito repellent spray in schools free of cost.

The DGHS health emergency and operation control room data showed on Sunday that at least 824 new dengue patients were hospitalised in last 24 hours, which was also the highest ever admission of dengue patients in a single day in Bangladesh.

In the past 28 days of July alone, at least 9,510 dengue patients were hospitalised as the dengue situation is becoming bad to worse day by day, with the peak time of dengue season – August to October—is yet to come.