Penal/Debe doubles mosquito spraying after rains

THE Penal/Debe Regional Corporation (PDRC) has ramped up its mosquito-spraying exercises to curb the spread of dengue after recent rain.

Speaking to Newsday at the corporation's disaster management unit in Debe on July 1, PDRC chairman Gowtam Maharaj said mosquito spraying will now be done twice daily.

"Even though there was no major flooding, the area itself, the topography allows for water settling. We have doubled up on our spraying and again we are also making a call for the Ministry of Health to complement what we are doing, the IVCD (insect vector control department) of the Ministry of Health to come on board, work with us and complement what we are doing to be able to bring relief to residents."

He said the outbreak is one of the PDRC's top priorities and it is on "red alert."

"We are doing a morning shift with two teams and an evening shift with two teams, bearing in mind we must cover 800 streets and all of the other land spaces, and it is a lot.

"Therefore the Ministry of Health IVCD department coming on board with more resources fully would be of great help to the residents. "

Last month, the Ministry of Health said there were 126 confirmed dengue cases across counties Caroni, Victoria and St Patrick. Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh later revealed there was one fatality in South Trinidad.

Maharaj was unable to give an exact figure for cases in his municipality but believes the number is growing.

"To give an empirical answer on the dengue situation, I will depend on the CMOH (County Medical Officer of Health) to provide data. At this point in time, we have made a documented call for data so that it can guide us and it can guide all. From the...relationship with the residents, we are getting a number of reports – people who are hospitalised or are bedridden because of the dengue."