Legal action has been taken against 143 individuals on the opening day of the National Mosquito Control Week, the National Dengue Control Unit has said.

The National Mosquito Control Week commenced today. Accordingly, programs and inspections will be carried out across ten districts. During the first three days, inspections are being carried out in eight of those districts.

Military personnel, police officers, civil security personnel and public health inspectors are all part of the initiative launched by the Ministry of Health.

A total of 22,318 locations were inspected today, and 4,481 of them were identified as dengue mosquito breeding grounds, Media Spokesperson of the National Dengue Control Unit of the Ministry of Health Community Medical Specialist Dr. Prasheela Samaraweera stated.

This means that 20% of inspected sites were found to be breeding grounds—essentially, one in every five locations, Dr. Samaraweera added.

Accordingly, 601 red notices have been issued while 143 legal cases have also been filed today.

As of today, 55 high-risk areas have been identified, with the Ratnapura District recording the highest rate of dengue mosquito breeding, the Media Spokesperson of the National Dengue Control Unit noted.

Although the Mosquito Control Week officially started today, officials have been conducting public awareness campaigns at the divisional level.