Visiting central team meets Telangana DGP in Hyderabad

The five-member inter-ministerial Central team that visited Hyderabad on Saturday to assess the Covid-19 situation met GP M. Mahender Reddy and other senior police officials at the Telangana Police headquarters on Sunday. The team will visit Gandhi Hospital, where a majority of Covid-19 patients are undergoing treatment.

Hyderabad:An Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) currently on a visit to Hyderabad to assess the Covid-19 situation continued its work on the second day on Sunday, meeting with DGP M. Mahender Reddy and other senior police officials at the Telangana Police headquarters.

The five-member team led by Arun Baroka, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Jal Shakti, was briefed by the Director-General of Police on the measures taken by police to enforce the nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus.

The police chief also explained to the team the special steps taken in containment zones.

Dr Chandrashekhar Gedam, Senior Public Health Specialist; Dr Hemlatha, Director, National Institute of Nutrition, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare; S.S. Thakur, Director, Ministry of Consumers Affairs; and Shekhar Chaturvedi, Associate Professor, National Institute of Disaster Management, are the members of the team.

The team will visit Gandhi Hospital, where a majority of COVID-19 patients are undergoing treatment.

It is also scheduled to visit a vegetable market and a night shelter to get a first-hand account of the situation, especially the implementation of social distancing norms and the welfare of the homeless and destitute.

Soon after its arrival in Hyderabad on Saturday, the team had visited Gachibowli Hospital to assess the preparedness of the health sector in combating Covid-19.

The authorities have transformed a 14-storeyed sports tower into a 1,500-bed makeshift hospital for Covid-19 patients.

Later, Telangana Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar had briefed the team on the steps taken by the state government to contain coronavirus.

His detailed presentation covered treatment, maintainance of containment zones, quarantine centres, hospital preparedness, surveillance, testing, helpline, procurement of medical equipment, supply of rice to white ration card holders, relief measures for migrant workers, Annapurna centres and shelter homes.

It is one of IMCTs constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs to visit Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Surat, Chennai and Thane, the major hotspots where the pandemic situation is described as serious.

IANS Report