Twenty persons have died due to dengue in 2020, Health and Indigenous Medical Services Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi said, addressing the press yesterday.

She stated that the Government needed public support in preventing dengue in Sri Lanka. “If you have high fever, visit the main district hospital for dengue treatment in your area,” she said, adding that it was important to keep one’s surroundings clean and free of breeding grounds. The Health Minister also added that mosquito breeding grounds are most often found in construction sites.

Wanniarachchi added that local government bodies should support dengue prevention efforts as much as they support COVID-19 containment efforts.

According to the Epidemiology Unit’s data for May, 144 dengue cases have been identified in Kandy, 118 in Ratnapura, and 83 in Jaffna. Colombo has had 62 cases in May. A total of 743 dengue cases have been reported in May and this is a significant increase from the 471 cases identified last month. A total of 19,746 cases have been identified this year.

From January to May last year, 20,378 dengue cases were identified. The Epidemiology Unit also stated that 19,746 suspected dengue cases have been reported to the Unit since January 2020.

Wanniarachchi added that 150 persons died of dengue last year and that a task force for the prevention of dengue has been formed by the Health and Indigenous Medical Services Ministry as per President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s instructions.

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