Centre Sends Teams To 10 COVID-19 Worst-Hit States

NEW DELHI: The Union Health Ministry has sent central teams to 10 states including the two Telugu states which have witnessed either major COVID-19 caseloads or a high spike in the number of cases.

Each team will comprise of a senior official from the Union ministry of health and family welfare, a joint-secretary-level nodal officer and a public health expert. The central teams will help the state health departments and guide how to fight against the COVID-19.

Besides Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the teams are being sent to Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, and West Bengal. It may be recalled that 20 central teams of public health experts were sent to the districts where there are more number of COVID-19 cases.

Earlier, a central team headed by Union health ministry’s additional deputy director general Sudhir Gupta visited the Pune Smart City Development Corporation Limited. He advised the health authorities in Pune to take preventive measures to control the spread of COVID-19 in the red zones.

The team in Andhra Pradesh from the All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health (AIIHM & PH) visited Kurnool town and expressed concern over the increase in the number of cases.

Lav Agarwal, joint secretary, health ministry, said that “The main objective of sending the teams of experts is to assess the situation on the ground and advise the state government accordingly on how best to implement containment measures and manage cases so that they do not turn critical. Their job is to see if there are any loopholes, and help the states plug these.”

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