Covid surge: Centre rushes high-level teams to Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh

The union government on Friday said it sent two high-level multidisciplinary teams to Chhattisgarh and Chandigarh in view of surge in number of coronavirus cases in recent days. 

"These teams will work with the respective governments to ascertain the reasons for surge, assist in undertaking gap analysis and recommend requisite Covid-19 control and containment measures," the government said.

The team to Chhattisgarh is headed by Dr S K Singh, Director, National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) and has experts from AIIMS, Raipur and All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health. The team to Chandigarh is led by Shri Vijoy Kumar Singh, Additional Secretary & Financial Advisor, Ministry of Textiles with experts drawn from Dr RML Hospital and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi.

Chhattisgarh has recently witnessed a significant spurt in fresh Covid cases as well as new deaths every day. Chandigarh has also seen a significant surge in new cases. The deployed teams shall visit the most affected hotspots to take a stock of on-ground implementation of public health interventions. 

They will share the key findings, recommendations and remedial measures to be taken up with the Chief Secretary.

The reports of central teams are shared with the states for further follow up action. The follow up and compliance on part of states is monitored by the Union Ministry of Health. 

This deployment is latest in a series of teams that health ministry has deputed over the last couple of months in view of reports of resurgence in number of cases currently being reported by many States.

On Thursday, Chhattisgarh reported by 2,419 new infections, the highest single-day addition in the past four months, taking the state's tally to 332,113, according to the state health department. The death toll rose by 15 to touch 4,026.

Schools and colleges have been closed in Chhattisgarh and the chief minister Baghel on Sunday had chaired a meeting of his cabinet ministers and senior officials to ensure that all health protocols related to coronavirus are in place to check the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile Chandigarh added 226 new Coronavirus cases on Thursday and the caseload soared over 25,000 cases. The city has also added close to 3,500 new cases of Coronavirus to its overall tally in the last 25 days.