Central teams to help contain Covid spurt in many UP districts

LUCKNOW: Even as the state health department has alerted the ‘mohalla’ (locality) surveillance teams in the cities after surge in Covid-19 cases in urban hubs, the union ministry of health and family welfare has decided to deploy high level multi–disciplinary teams in four districts of Uttar Pradesh that are witnessing high case load and spurt in coronavirus infection.

A state health department officer said the central government teams will provide technical support for containment and facilitate management of Covid-19 outbreak. The spike in coronavirus cases has been witnessed in the districts of West UP namely Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Meerut and Agra as well as in Kanpur and Lucknow. Along with the four districts of West UP, the central team will also visit Kanpur and Lucknow, he said.

The central teams, including two public health experts, epidemiologist, clinicians and a senior joint secretary level nodal officer for administrative handholding and improving governance, will assist the state health department in checking the spread of coronavirus infection.

These teams will work in the field and visit the health care facilities to support the state health department in implementation of containment measures and efficient treatment, clinical management of cases within the districts or cities.

The ministry of health and family welfare has urged the state government that for better coordination, quick action on the ground, adoption of a more granular strategy, the state health department teams deputed in the districts should be in regular touch with central teams.

The constant interaction will strengthen the surveillance, containment, testing and treatment related action on the ground, he said.

The central teams will assist the state health department in addressing some of the challenges, including testing bottlenecks, low tests/per million population, high confirmation rates, high testing confirmation rates, risk of capacity shortfall over the next two months, potential bed shortage, growing cases, fatality rate, high doubling rate, sudden spike in active cases, he said.

The dedicated core team of the state health department comprising district level medical and administrative officials will also coordinate with the central government team in checking the spread of the coronavirus.