Central team asks officials to focus on contact tracing ? Staff Reporter : CONSIDERING the alarming increase in number of COVID19 cases and deaths Central Health Team visited various districts in Vidarbha including Nagpur on Thursday and took stock of the situation.The Central team asked the district administration to focus on contact tracing. The team sent to each district comprises two senior experts from national healthcare institutions including All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Post-Graduate Institute. The team that took stock of the situation in Nagpur district comprised Prof Dr P P Joshi from AIIMS-Nagpur; and Dr Harshal Salve Community Health Department AIIMS-New Delhi. The team held meeting with all the stakeholders concerned including administrative officers as well as senior officers of various Government healthcare units and Health Department. “The team collected data on Thursday. On Friday it will visit Government as well as private hospitals in Nagpur city. On Saturday it will visit rural areas. The five-day visit will end on Monday morning. Once the visit is over the team will analyse the data collected and then submit its report to higher a u t h o r i t i e s ” said an official familiar with the situation. The team has been asked to assess various parameters including testing contact tracing treatment availability of medicines including Remdesivir oxygen supply availability of beds etc. “The basic idea of the team is not to find faults but to assess the situation objectively on various parameters and then suggest remedial measures to contain further spread of COVID-19 in district. The emphasis will be on effective implementation of COVID-19 protocol” said an official who wished to remain unnamed. The team held a meeting at District Collectorate on Thursday. Ravindra Thakare District Collector; Yogesh Kumbhejkar Chief Executive Officer of Zilla Parishad; Dr Sanjay Jaiswal Deputy Director of Health Services; Dr Devendra Paturkar Civil Surgeon; Dr Deepak Selokar District Health Officer; Vivek Ilme District Co-ordinator; Ravindra Khajanji Resident Deputy Collector; Avinash Katade Deputy Collector; and others were present prominently. Thakare informed the Central team that the district administration laid special emphasis on testing and tracing. Necessary medication is being provided to COVID-19 patients and COVID Care Centres have been started at all primary healthcare centres in rural areas of the district. Special protocol has been prepared and will be implemented to ensure that the patients in home isolation do not come in contact with others. Besides special village-level teams have been formed to enlighten people about wearing mask maintaining social distancing and washing hands frequently with soap and water. Tehsil-level committees are looking after increasing the pace of COVID-19 vaccination of all eligible beneficiaries above 45 years of age.

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