With the cold wave prevailing over North India, government hospitals in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow are witnessing a surge in patients with respiratory illnesses.
With slight rains in several parts of the national capital, Delhites had some respite from the chilling cold on Friday morning with the temperature recorded at 12 degrees Celcius and moderate fog conditions.
"We are getting approx 10-15 per cent more patients of heart attacks, brain strokes and high blood pressure especially during early hours because of the cold waves since 12 days and the most affected age group is between 50-70 yr old," the LNJP doctor said.
Even as Thursday saw a rise in temperature, the weather department has predicted that cold wave conditions will re-emerge over the entire North-West India and peak between January 15 and 16.
Already in the grip of a severe cold spell, there's more bad news in the offing for North India as vast swathes of the region are likely to experience a drop in temperatures to a minimum of -4 degrees Celsius and a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius in the plains, according to a weather expert.
As Delhi witnesses the third worst cold wave in 23 years, the hospitals are getting respiratory and more heart patients in emergencies and OPDs and the health experts said the risk of these diseases increasing because of the cold and air pollution.
Amid the severe weather conditions in the state, the Uttar Pradesh government, following instructions from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, has distributed more than 1,79,740 blankets to the needy over the past 10 days taking the count to 4.66 lakh.
Already reeling under a cold wave since the beginning of the New Year, residents in the national capital on Wednesday woke up to another chilly and polluted morning.