Central teams being sent to these states for support in coronavirus COVID-19 management

The Union Ministry of Health on Saturday decided to deploy Central teams to ten states that have witnessed or are witnessing high caseload and a high spurt of coronavirus COVID-19 cases. The teams will assist the state health departments of respective states to facilitate the management of COVID-19 outbreak.

The teams are composed of a senior official from the ministry, a Joint Secretary level nodal officer and a public health expert. The team shall support the state health department in the implementation of containment measures in the affected areas within the respective states’ districts or cities. The teams are being sent to the following states--Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

This is besides the 20 central teams of public health experts who were earlier sent to the high caseload districts. A high-level team had recently been deputed to Mumbai to support Maharahstra's efforts in COVID-19 response and management.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday appreciated the dedication of all the north-eastern states in combating coronavirus COVID-19 adding that all should work together by converting the orange zones to green zones and maintain the protective status across the states.

Vardhan held a high-level meeting with Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim to review the status of COVID-19 in the north-eastern states along with the measures being taken for its containment and management.

He said, “It is a huge relief and very encouraging to see green zones in most northeastern States. As of date, only Assam and Tripura have active COVID-19 cases; the other states are all in the green zone. Let us focus and work together by converting the orange zones to green zones and maintain the protective status across the states."

The review meeting, over video conferencing, was also attended by Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choube, along with Mizoram Health Minister Dr R Lalthangliana, Arunachal Pradesh Health Minister Alo Libang, Assam Health Minister Piyush Hazarika, and other senior officers from the eight states.