New Delhi, Oct 2 (IANS): As part of the initiatives to tackle dengue in the national capital, 400 new beds were bought by the state government, which would soon be placed in hospitals handling the highest number of cases.

According to an official, the 400 beds are part of the 1,000 beds to be bought by the state to accommodate the soaring number of patients in Delhi and its adjoining areas.

"The beds are likely to be placed in Guru Teg Bahadur hospital, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash hospital and Ambedkar hospital, as they have been handling the highest number of dengue cases till now," said a government official.

Till Thursday, the toll in the national capital had risen to 25 after eight more people succumbed to the vector-borne disease.

The latest victims include five females, including a seven-month-old girl, and three males.

The national capital and its adjoining areas have recorded a total of 6,400 dengue cases till now. Unofficially, the toll figure confirmed by media reports stands at over 80.

Following a spurt in the number of cases in the national capital, top officials of the health department, researchers and laboratories met on Wednesday to discuss new initiatives to control the menace.

During the meeting, the stakeholders were reported to have discussed about the areas from where the maximum number of dengue cases were reported. Details were, however, not made public.

Nearly 2,200 fresh cases of dengue were reported in the past one week.