Central teams rush to Maharashtra and Punjab to assess Covid situation amid spike in cases

New Delhi: As Maharashtra and Punjab continue to see an upsurge in daily Covid-19 cases, the Centre has despatched high-level multi-disciplinary public health teams, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday.

The teams are being deployed to assist the State health departments in Covid-19 surveillance, control and containment measures. The high-level team to Maharashtra will be led by Health Ministry's P Ravindran while the public health team to Punjab will be led by National Centre for Disease Control director S K Singh.

At present, there are 6,661 active coronavirus cases in Punjab and 90,055 cases in Maharashtra according to the Union Health Ministry's data.

The Central teams will first visit the Covid-19 hotspot areas in Punjab and Maharashtra and ascertain reasons for the increase in cases. Based on their assessment, they will brief the Health chief secretary/secretary and will also suggest remedial measures which can be undertaken by state authorities to control the situation. The Central teams will also share a detailed report with the states for further follow-up action.