Centre To Deploy Additional Teams Of Officials, Health Experts In 10 States Witnessing Surge In COVID-19 Cases

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) led by Dr Harsh Vardhan has decided to deploy its teams in 10 States which have witnessed, or are witnessing a surge in the cases of COVID-19, to assist their health departments in managing the pandemic's spread, reports Financial Express.

The new teams would come in addition to the 20 central teams comprising of public health experts, which had been deployed in 20 districts with high caseload on 3 May. The new ones would be sent to Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

It should be noted that every such team shall comprise of a senior official from the MoHFW, a joint secretary-level nodal officer and a public health expert.

The decision by the Ministry comes just a day after AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria and medical expert Dr Manish Soneja had been flown by the Centre to Ahmedabad in a special Indian Air Force (IAF) flight, so as to bolster the management.

Meanwhile, another team of high-level officials had also recently been deputed by Centre to Mumbai which has reported the highest caseload so far.