The death toll of a dengue fever outbreak in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province has hit 37, the local Health Agency said today, adding that a lack of immediate care of patients contributed to the fatalities.
“As of this morning, from all the data we collected across 22 regencies and cities in regards to the dengue fever, there are 37 people who died, with [total number of] cases from January to March 2020 reaching 3,109 cases,” said David Mandala, a secretary at the NTT Health Agency, as quoted by state news agency Antara.
David said that most of the cases were recorded in Sikka regency, with a total number of 1,216 cases, followed by the provincial capital city of Kupang with 462 cases and Alor regency with 308 cases.
Local health authorities said the rising number of dengue fever cases in NTT were because patients had been late in getting checked at the local community clinic (Puskesmas) or hospital, as reported by Antara.
The provincial government is reportedly carrying out multiple efforts to tackle the outbreak, including by sending doctors to areas with the highest number of cases.
On Monday, Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto visited patients in Maumere and thanked local health workers for their efforts in tackling the dengue fever outbreak in NTT.
“There were 1,190 people [suffering from dengue fever in Sikka regency], and that is not a small number. It’s a lot. Even though 13 of our brothers have died, it’s because of God’s will. It is not our fault,” Terawan said on Monday, referring to the death toll then, as quoted by Kompas.
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