Centre sends health teams to Maharashtra, Punjab after spike in daily Covid-19 cases

NEW DELHI: The Centre has rushed high-level multi-disciplinary public health teams to Maharashtra and Punjab in view of the increase in number of daily COVID-19 cases being reported by these states.

The teams are being deployed to assist State Health Departments in coronavirus surveillance, control and containment measures, the Union health ministry said.

The high-level team to Maharashtra will be led by P Ravindran, Sr CMO, Disaster Management Cell, MOHFW.

While the public health team to Punjab will be led by S K Singh, Director, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), New Delhi, it said.

The teams will visit the (COVID-19) hotspot areas in the states and ascertain reasons for the surge in cases, the ministry said.

According to the ministry data, there are 6,661 active coronavirus cases in Punjab and 90,055 cases in Maharashtra.

They will also brief chief secretary/secretary (health) on their observations and remedial measures to be undertaken by the respective state health authorities.

The Union government has been leading the fight against COVID-19 pandemic with a 'Whole of Government' and 'Whole of Society' approach under the umbrella strategy of 'Cooperative Federalism', the ministry said.

As ongoing efforts to strengthen the initiatives of various state and Union territory (UT) governments for COVID management, the government has been deputing central teams from time to time to visit various states/UTs.

These teams interact with the state and UT authorities and get a first-hand understanding of the challenges and issues being faced by them so as to strengthen their ongoing activities and remove bottlenecks, if any.

The reports of central teams are shared with the states for further follow up action, it added.