Central team for Telangana to make Covid assessment

Hyderabad: Taking serious note of increasing number of deadly Coronavirus cases in Telangana, particularly in Hyderabad, the Union government deployed an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) to the state to study the measures taken to contain the virus and the relief measures grounded for the poor in villages.

So far, the teams had visited Mumbai and Delhi, where the number of positive cases multiplied in a short time. Now, the Centre considered Hyderabad, Ahmadabad, Surat, Thane and Chennai as hotspots of the virus.

The Union Home Ministry decided to send the Central team to Telangana on Friday after analysing the virus scare in every metropolitan city and big towns in the county and the teams left for Telangana there and then. The team headed by Deputy Secretary rank official would make the on-spot assessment of the situation and issue necessary directions to state authorities for redressal.

The IMCTs would focus on a range of issues, including compliance and implementation of the lockdown measures, supply of essential commodities, social distancing in movement of the people outside their homes, preparedness of the health infrastructure, hospital facilities and sample statistics in the districts, safety of health professionals, availability of test kits, PPEs, masks and other safety equipment and conditions of the relief camps for labour and the poor.

Officials said the team will hold a meeting with Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar and medical authorities and make specific suggestions to reduce the intensity of virus in the state. The team will also submit its report to the Centre in three or four days. The violations include incidents ranging from violence on frontline healthcare professionals, attacks on police personnel, violations of social distancing norms in market places and opposition to setting up of quarantine centres.