New Delhi: Witnessing the multiplying cases of Coronavirus across India, the Health Ministry has decided to form 'central public health teams' which will be deployed to at least 20 districts in different states to assist State Health Departments in COVID-19 management.

Confirming the development, a health ministry official stated that "A decision has been taken in the ministry of health to deploy public health teams to assist health departments in managing COVID19 outbreaks inn selected districts,"

According to the Union Health Ministry, the teams will be deployed in 20 worst-hit districts that are reporting the maximum numbers of COVID-19 cases. These districts include Mumbai, Thane, Pune in Maharashtra; Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodra in Gujarat; South East and Central District in Delhi; Bhopal, Indore in Madhya Pradesh; Chennai in Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad in Telangana; Jaipur, Jodhpur in Rajasthan; Agra, Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh; Kolkata in West Bengal and Kurnool, Guntur, Krishna in Andhra Pradesh.

Going by an office memorandum issued on May 2, these teams shall report to additional chief secretary/ principal secretary/ secretary of health of the respective state and assist state health departments in the implementation of containment measures for COVID-19 affected areas within these districts and cities.

The regional directors under the ministry of health in ten states will coordinate the deployment of these teams with the state health authorities.

The team shall be deployed for further orders and will submit reports to additional chief secretary/ principal secretary/ secretary of health of respective state detailing the teams' observations areas for improvement and recommendations.

The experts from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, JIPMER, National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW), National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health (AIIPH) among others will be part of the public health teams.

As of Sunday, nearly 40,000 people have been affected by novel coronavirus. India has 28,070 active cases. While 10,886 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals, 1,306 people have lost their lives in the country till now.

(With inputs from ANI news agency)