The MCD has made it mandatory for all city hospitals to report dengue and chikungunya cases online.

Nodal officers of all the 596 hospitals in the city will provide the exact figures of dengue and chikungunya affected people undergoing treatment there via internet.

The move comes after MCD's online system for reporting such cases became functional on April 8.

Nodal officers of 34 sentinel surveillance hospitals have so far been trained on how to report the cases online.

"Now it is not only the 34 sentinel surveillance hospitals in Delhi but all the 596 hospitals will be electronically connected so that they will give the correct figures of dengue and chikungunya cases in the city," V K Monga, MCD's Health Committee Chairman said.

This will include all private and government hospitals, he said.

The city hospitals will have to update details which will include name, age, sex, address and laboratory data of the patient to the MCD.

Currently, hospitals send a hard copy via fax everyday to the MCD, giving the number of dengue and chikungunya cases being treated by them. This led to loss of data and under-reporting of such cases, he said.

"This web-based reporting system will be less time-consuming and cumbersome process for hospitals, and since the exact number of people affected by dengue or chikungunya will be known, steps to contain these diseases will materialise well," Monga said.