Staff Correspondent: Dhaka, Jul-17,

Amid a rise in the number of dengue patients, authorities reported 81 more new cases in 24 hours until Saturday morning.

Some 336 patients diagnosed with dengue are  receiving treatment at different government and private hospitals in the country as of Saturday morning, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Of them, 331 patients are receiving treatment at different hospitals in the capital while five others outside Dhaka.

Some 1139 patients have been admitted to different hospitals with dengue since January and 801 of them have been released after recovery.

The recent spike in dengue cases has added to the worries as the country continues to grapple with the devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

The ongoing drives will continue in Dhaka South City Corporation areas to control dengue, said its mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh on Wednesday.

He said this while exchanging views with journalists after inaugurating an interim waste disposal center at Tantibazar intersection in Ward 36 of the city.

"Dengue situation is now under conrol although  the number of dengue patients is a bit more this time  due to heavy rainfall," the mayor said.

The DGHS reported 1,193 dengue cases and three confirmed dengue-related deaths in 2020.

According to official figures, 101,354 dengue cases and 179 deaths were recorded in Bangladesh in 2019.

Dengue fever was first reported in Bangladesh in 2000 when it claimed 93 lives. In the following three years, the fatalities almost fell to zero.

However, the mosquito-borne viral infection struck again in 2018, killing 26, and infecting 10,148 people.