New Delhi, Oct 2 (IANS): The Delhi government on Friday issued notice to 14 doctors for dereliction of duty in dealing with the dengue crisis.

The action came a day after city Health Minister Satyendra Jain visited some hospitals, a Delhi government official said.

"Jain visited a few hospitals between 11.45 p.m. and 6 a.m. on Thursday to check their preparedness in terms of dealing with the dengue patients and found some doctors sleeping while being on duty while some were found loitering in other wards," the official said.

The government has sought replies from the doctors.

The hospitals include Aruna Asaf Ali Government Hospital, Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital, Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital, Acharya Shree Bhikshu Hospital, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Hospital and Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital.

Delhi is grappling with its worst outbreak of the dengue in the last six years.

An update of the dengue status by the civic administration has taken the official toll up to 25 even as over 80 dengue deaths have been reported by the hospitals. The total number of cases Delhi has witnessed is 6,400.