Lucknow: An outbreak of viral fever and dengue in Uttar Pradesh's Firozabad district has claimed the lives of 32 children and seven adults, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath confirmed on Monday.
The Chief Minister also formed special teams to study the virus and come up with a plan to control its spread in the three worst-hit districts of Firozabad, Mathura and Mainpuri.
Earlier, Adityanath had visited the families of those who lost their members and assured them of help.
The Chief Minister also visited the 100-bed district hospital at Firozabad where children showing symptoms of the disease are being treated.
At least 30 children recently lost their lives in this hospital, reportedly to the mysterious fever.
"The dedicated Covid-19 ward at the district hospital of Firozabad is reserved for patients suffering from this fever," the Chief Minister told reporters.
Some of the districts in western Uttar Pradesh, including Mathura, Firozabad and Mainpuri, have witnessed a spike in cases of 'viral fever' which has made the government press the panic button.
BJP MLA from Firozabad, Manish Asija, had claimed on Sunday that 40 children died last week from the disease.
The claim was refuted by UP Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh who termed Asija's claims "wrong" and said that he received no such reports.
Firozabad District Magistrate, Chandra Vijay Singh denied that this was the third wave of the pandemic. "Due to heavy rains and waterlogging, dengue and malaria are the cause behind high fever among children," he said.
Health teams have tested the patients but they have all tested negative for Corona.
Uttar Pradesh is not alone, Assam has also detected the virus due to which a COVID-19 hospital at Sarusajai in Guwahati was been ordered to close down temporarily by the Assam Health Department for 15 days after recording a total number of 29 cases. The victims include Rajpratim Das, Superintendent of the hospital, few nurses, health workers and some other patients.