COVID-19: Central teams sent to Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, WB

 High-level central teams have been deputed to Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, which have been reporting a surge in COVID-19 cases, to support them in management of the disease.The Union Health Ministry on Friday said these teams will support the state towards strengthening containment, surveillance, testing, infection prevention and control measures, and efficient clinical management of the positive cases.

"The Central teams shall also guide in effectively managing the challenges related to timely diagnosis and follow up," it said.

Each team comprises a joint secretary (nodal officer for the respective state), one public health expert to look after the public health aspects, one clinician to look after infection prevention practices and clinical management protocol being followed by the State.

Kerala so far has reported 3,17,929 coronavirus infections which form 4.3 per cent of the total cases, the ministry said.

The cases per million stand at 8,906. The recoveries have surged to 2,22,231 accounting for a recovery rate of 69.90 per cent. There are 94,609 active cases (comprising 11.8 per cent of the total national figure), the ministry said.  Total deaths in the state are 1,089 with a case fatality rate of 0.34 per cent and deaths per million of 31.

The tests per million (TPM) of Kerala stand at 53,518 and the positivity rate is 16.6 per cent, the ministry said.Karnataka has reported 7,43,848 cases of coronavirus infection accounting for 10.1 per cent of the national figure. It has 11,010 cases per million population.

Also, 6,20,008 patients have recovered in the state resulting in a recovery rate of 83.35 per cent, the ministry informed.There are 1,13,557 active cases of COVID-19 (14.1 per cent of national figure). The state has reported a total of 10,283 fatalities, has a CFR of 1.38 per cent and 152 deaths per million population. The TPM is 95,674 and the positivity rate is pegged at 11.5 per cent, the ministry stated.

Rajasthan has so far registered 1,67,279 cases  accounting for 2.3 per cent of the total caseload. It has 2,064 cases per million and 1,43,984 total number of recoveries with recovery rate of 86.07 per cent.  There are 21,587 active cases of COVID-19 as on date which comprise 2.7 per cent share in the national numbers.

The state has so far far recorded 1,708 deaths. The Case Fatality Rate is 1.02 per cent and deaths per million stands at 21. The TPM is 38,605 with a positivity rate of 5.3 per cent, the ministry said.West Bengal has so far reported 3,09,417 infections which is 4.2 per cent of the total caseload, amounting to 3,106 cases per million population.  A total 2,71,563 patients have recuperated from the disease and the recovery rate is 87.77 per cent. With 31,984 active cases, the state accounts for 4.0 per cent of the total. The state so far has registered 5,870 deaths due to COVID-19.

The case fatality rate is 1.90 per cent whereas the deaths per million population are 59. The TPM stands at   37,872 and the positivity rate is 8.2 per cent.Chhattisgarh has reported 1,53,515 cases, accounting for 2.1 per cent of the total cases. It has 5,215 cases per million, 1,23,943 recovered patients and a recovery rate of 80.74 per cent.

It has 28,187 active cases as on date comprising 3.5 per cent of the national figure. There have been 1,385 deaths in the state accounting for case fatality rate of 0.90 per cent and 47 deaths per million. The TPM are 50,191 and positivity rate is 10.4 per cent, the ministry said.

As an ongoing effort to strengthen efforts of various state and UT governments for COVID-19 management, the central government has been deputing central teams from time to time to visit various states and UTs. 

These teams interact with the state and UT authorities and get a first hand understanding of the challenges and issues being faced by them so as to strengthen their ongoing activities and remove bottlenecks, if any, the ministry said. 

India's COVID-19 caseload rose to 73,70,468 with  63,371 new infections being reported in a day, while the  death toll climbed to 1,12,161 with the virus claiming 895 lives in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed. 

(Image Credits:PTI)