Drawing from the success of a doctors’ task force in bringing down the growth rate of fresh COVID-19 cases in Mumbai city, the State government has decided to replicate the idea in every district.
Medical Education Minister Amit Deshmukh on Thursday announced that such task forces will be set up, following the directives given by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Mr. Deshmukh said each task force will consist of doctors, experts, and senior officials from the district. “The task force will coordinate with different authorities working to control the spread of novel coronavirus and also supervise the treatments used to cure patients.” The Medical Education Department secretary has been directed to convey to all district collectors in this regard.
“We formed a task force in Mumbai and it turned out to be extremely useful. Now, every district and division is required to have a similar task force, since the number of COVID-19 patients is growing,” Mr. Thackeray had said at a meeting of divisional commissioners, municipal commissioners, and collectors, last month.
The minister said the task force will be useful to ensure a well-coordinated fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Thackeray, at the meeting, had also said, “We regularly issue guidelines regarding medicines and treatments. Sometimes, these change as well. Therefore, it is important to have senior medical professionals on board. It has been proved in several cases that proper medical treatment ensures cure.”
At present, Maharashtra has 77,260 active COVID-19 cases, while the total number of cases has crossed 1.85 lakh mark. The State on Thursday achieved a milestone of conducting 10 lakh tests.