Dengue death toll rises to 23 in Delhi, case count now over 9,500: Civic body

Six more deaths due to dengue have been reported in the national capital, taking the total number of fatalities due to the vector-borne disease reported in Delhi this year to 23, according to a municipal report released on Monday.

The number of dengue cases rose to over 9,500, though about 130 fresh cased have been logged in the last one week, the rise being far less than what was being reported till a few weeks ago.

Till December 18, the official dengue death tally, maintained by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, had stood at 17.

According to the civic body's report on vector-borne diseases released on Monday, a total of 9,545 dengue cases and 23 deaths have been recorded this season till December 25.

A total 1,269 cases have been recorded this month till December 25.

In the previous years, the total dengue cases reported were 4,431 (2016), 4,726 (2017), 2,798 (2018), 2,036 (2019) and 1,072 (2020), according to the report.

In 2015, the city had witnessed a massive outbreak of dengue with the number of cases crossing 10,600 in October itself, making it the worst outbreak of the vector-borne disease in the national capital since 1996.

The number of dengue fatalities this year is the highest in the national capital since 2016, when the officially reported death count was 10.

The national capital recorded two deaths due to dengue in 2019, four in 2018, and 10 each in 2017 and 2016.

The number of deaths due to dengue in years preceding to 2020, had stood at -- 2 (in 2019); 4 (2018); 10 (2017); and 10 (2016), according to the official tally maintained by the SDMC.