Health officials in Denpasar are warning of the risk of dengue fever, as the city records a higher number of cases compared to 2019 with more than 800 cases since January of this year.
“Even though right now we are preventing and handling COVID-19, we must also be aware of dengue fever, because there are more cases so far in 2020 compared to the number of cases between January and April 2019,” Ida Bagus Eka Putra, an official from the Denpasar Health Agency, told state news agency Antara.
As of April 22, Denpasar has recorded a total of 832 cases whereas the number of cases between January and April of last year stood at 592, according to a report by Tribun.
Officials said that mosquito fogging has been carried out to combat the spread of dengue, but noted that the effort only kills adult mosquitoes and not the larvae, further emphasizing that residents need to actively clean water-filled containers around their households.
Most of the cases in Denpasar were reportedly recorded in Sanur, with officials expecting the number to rise citywide in the next two months before it starts declining.
Data from the Health Ministry in the first week of April showed 2,173 cases of dengue fever in Bali, while more than 39,000 cases were reported across the country this year up until then.
The number appears to have grown exponentially since early April, as additional and more recent data from Buleleng showed that 1,983 people have been diagnosed with dengue fever in that regency alone so far this year.
