COVID-19: Central team to visit Gujarat on Friday

Ahmedabad, Jun 25 () A central team, led by Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal, will visit Gujarat on Friday to review the measures undertaken by the state to contain the spread of coronavirus, said officials on Thursday.

During the one-day visit, Agarwal and his team members are expected to visit containment zones in Ahmedabad city, the worst-hit due to COVID-19 in Gujarat, they said.

The team would also visit the city's civil hospital, which has a 1,200-bed capacity to treat COVID-19 patients, said state Commissioner of Health, Jai Prakash Shivahare.

"This visit by the central team is aimed at strengthening coordination with the state in fighting coronavirus. We will apprise them about our efforts and best practices adopted by the government to contain the virus," said Shivahare.

Earlier in the day, the health ministry announced that its teams will visit Gujarat, Maharashtra and Telangana between June 26 and 29 to take stock of the COVID-19 situation in these states.

Gujarat has so far reported over 29,500 coronavirus cases and 1,750 deaths.

The COVID-19 death rate in Gujarat is amongst the highest at 5.93 per cent.

Ahmedabad has so far registered 19,839 cases and 1,390 deaths. The death rate in Ahmedabad is as high as 7 per cent. PJT PD RSY RSY