More central teams for 10 states that have witnessed or are witnessing high COVID-19 cases: Health ministry

The health ministry has decided to deploy central teams in 10 states that have witnessed or are witnessing high COVID-19 cases to assist their health departments to facilitate management of the outbreak.

These are besides the 20 central teams of public health experts sent earlier to 20 high case load districts on May3, the health ministry said in a statement on Saturday, adding a high-level team was recently deputed in Mumbai to support Maharashtra's efforts in COVID-19 response and management.

The statement was issued in the backdrop of medical experts from AIIMS - Director Dr Randeep Guleria and Dr Manish Soneja - from the department of medicine visiting the civil hospital in Ahmedabad to provide expert guidance to the doctors there on the management of COVID-19following directions from the Centre.

They interacted with the frontline staff amid concerns over the rise in COVID-19 fatalities in the state. According to official sources, the team of doctors flew to Ahmedabad by a special Indian Air Force flight on Friday evening.

According to the health ministry statement, the central teams comprises a senior official from the health ministry, a joint secretary-level nodal officer and a public health expert.

"The team shall support the state health department in implementation of containment measures in the affected areas within the respective states' districts and cities," the statement said.

The teams are being sent to Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi,