RAWALPINDI: Punjab Minister for Primary and Secondary Health, Dr. Yasmeen Rashid on Tuesday advised the public to take all possible precautionary measures as the number of dengue cases were increasing in the province with each passing day. “So far around 605 cases with positive tests of dengue virus have been reported in different parts of the province,” she said while addressing a news conference here at the Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH). The minister said as many as 49 patients had so far been brought to allied hospitals of the garrison city, out of which 36 were tested positive while results of the remaining 13 were being processed. She said around 17 patients were reported in the province while six patients were reported in Rawalpindi during the last 24 hours. Yashmeen Rashid said the dengue could not be declared as pandemic, but the virus was spreading in Punjab including Rawalpindi for which effective strategy and preventive measures were needed to avoid it. She urged for making special arrangements to control it as prevailing weather was most suitable for larvae breeding. Commenting on the polio virus, the minister said no polio case had been reported in the province so far while efforts were underway to eradicate it completely from the country. Dr. Yasmeen Rashid said Pakistan and Afghanistan were only two countries in the world where polio virus existed while no new case of polio was reported in Pakistan during the last three years. The Health Minister informed that corona cases were decreasing day by day and only 880 patients were reported in the last 24 hours. So far, more than 50 million people of Punjab have been vaccinated against corona with the first dose while efforts are being made to achieve 70% target by the end of the year while more than 400,000 people were being vaccinated against the lethal virus daily in Punjab. She said that 87 liver transplant surgeries have been performed in Punjab Kidney and Liver Transplant Institute so far. Talking about the completion of Rawalpindi Institute of Urology, the Minister expressed hope that it would become functional by April 2022. Dr Yasmeen informed that more than 23,000 people have been recruited in health department through Punjab Public Service Commission on merit. The minister informed that seven mother and child care centers were being established across Punjab including Multan, Rajanpur, Layyah, Attock and Bahawalnagar while Mother and Child care center in Mianawali would start working by March 2022. She said that the Punjab government had allocated an amount of Rs 370 billion for the improvement of the health sector in the fiscal year 2021-22 while Rs 25 billion would be provided by the federal government. She said the government was determined to provide the best healthcare facilities to the residents at their doorstep whereas every family of the province will be able to avail the health card facility by end of this year.