Health Ministry to deploy central teams to 10 states with high case-load, Maha excluded

As the number of Coronavirus cases continues to rise, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has decided to deploy central teams to 10 states witnessing high caseload. These teams will assist the state health departments to facilitate the management of COVID-19 outbreak. The Health Ministry has informed that these teams will comprise of a senior official from the MoHFW, a Joint Secretary level nodal office and public health expert. 

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The teams are expected to support the state health department in the implementation of containment measures in the affected areas within the respective states. The 10 states where these teams will be deployed are:

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1. Gujarat
2. Tamil Nadu
3. Uttar Pradesh
4. Delhi
5. Rajasthan
6. Madhya Pradesh
7. Punjab
8. West Bengal
9. Andhra Pradesh
10. Telangana

Notably, Maharashtra has been excluded from the list even as it continues to remain the worst-affected state across. However, the Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCT) which were deployed earlier had visited the state. It had also visited Mumbai to support the state efforts in COVID-19 response and management. 

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AIIMS director rushes to Gujarat 

With Gujarat reporting a large number of COVID-19 cases and fatalities, medical experts from AIIMS, including its Director Dr Randeep Guleria, rushed to Ahmedabad on Friday to provide expert guidance to doctors there on COVID-19 management. Following directions from the Centre, Dr Guleria, who is a pulmonologist, and Dr Manish Soneja from the AIIMS department of medicine left for Ahmedabad on special Indian Air Force flight on Friday evening, official sources said.

"They will visit the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital and SVP hospital on Saturday to provide expert guidance and advice to the doctors on treatment for coronavirus-infected patients there," a PTI source said.

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