Centre sends team to assist Lakshadweep administration in COVID-19 management

NEW DELHI: The Union health ministry has sent a multi-disciplinary team to assist Lakshadweep administration in COVID-19 management after the union territory reported its first case of coronavirus infection on January 18, nearly a year after the outbreak of the pandemic in the country.

The index case is a traveler who had come to Lakshadweep from Kochi in Kerala on January 4 by a ship.

The person had reported to the hospital with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 and was tested positive, the ministry said.

Initially, 31 primary contacts of the index case have been traced and quarantined of which 14 have now been found to be positive and have been isolated.

Fifty-six contacts of positive cases detected so far have also been traced and quarantined.

The Lakshadweep administration has initiated disinfection procedures and intensive risk-communication activity has been operationalised, the ministry said.

"The Ministry of Health has rushed a central multi-disciplinary team to Lakshadweep. The team comprises experts drawn from Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry; National Institute of Virology, Pune and Regional Office of Ministry of Health," the statement said.

The team shall assist the Lakshadweep administration in COVID-19 containment activities.