20 central teams rushed to states

NEWDELHI:The Union health ministry said on Sunday it was deploying 20 central teams to coronavirus disease (Covid-19) hot spots including Delhi and Mumbai to assist in controlling high caseloads and helping the state governments in their strategies against the contagion.

The move comes days after the Union home ministry sent InterMinisterial Central Teams (IMCTs) to states where the situation was “especially serious”. The central teams have flagged areas of concern in the states over the battle against Covid-19 and suggested remedial measures.

“The teams of experienced specialists were constituted over the weekend and are being sent to the states from where maximum cases are being reported. These teams will assist the state government in surveillance, implementing effective contact tracking measures, case management and infection control,” said a senior health ministry official on Sunday, asking not to be named.

The severely hit districts where these 20 teams will work with state experts are Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Delhi (south-east and central districts), Indore, Pune, Jaipur, Thane, Surat, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bhopal, Jodhpur, Agra, Kolkata, Kurnool, Guntur, Krishna and Lucknow. “These teams will support the states in implementation of containment measures for Ccovid-19 in the affected areas within these districts/cities. The teams will assist the state governments,” health ministry said.

Another official said these are districts with high cumulative positive figures, cases doubling too frequently or high death rates. All major metropolitan cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad, are now “red zones”.