Praneeta Prakash 
The Lautoka City Council is increasing awareness about the importance of eliminating mosquito breeding sites and keeping the environment clean.
This as the Western Division reported 2,841 laboratory-confirmed dengue fever cases, 252 confirmed cases of leptospirosis and 16 confirmed cases of typhoid from January 1st to March 23rd.
Lautoka City Council Senior Health Inspector Shalend Singh says they have also implemented widespread anti-mosquito spraying in high-risk areas.
He adds that the spraying effort will continue in the coming weeks.
“So our teams are out there in the ground, visiting houses, distributing pamphlets to the residents, creating awareness on the source reduction in terms of destroying the mosquito breeding grounds, and keeping our compounds clean and free from bushes. As we know, if it’s a bushy compound, it will harm our mosquitoes. So we need to ensure that our compounds are clear, kept clean at all times.”
Singh adds that businesses such as Tanoa Group has also stepped forward to provide much-needed support.
Tanoa Hotel Group General Manager Narend Kumar says the council had approached them for assistance and they have facilitated this.
The spraying campaign will continue in the coming weeks, especially in remaining hotspot zones.
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