Central team visits Ahmedabad, Surat, praises Gujarat govt

NITI Aayog member Dr Vinod Paul was part of a Central team that praised the Gujarat government's efforts in the battle against the virus. A team of AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria, Paul, Director General of ICMR Dr Balram Bhargav and Additional Secretary in the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Arti Ahuja visited Surat and Ahmedabad on Friday to review the coronavirus situation and to provide necessary guidance.

A NITI Aayog member said after visiting Gujarat on Friday that India's experience, especially in Delhi and Ahmedabad, shows that the coronavirus pandemic can be controlled without stringent restrictions. NITI Aayog member Dr Vinod Paul was part of a Central team that praised the Gujarat government's efforts in the battle against the virus.

A team of AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria, Paul, Director General of ICMR Dr Balram Bhargav and Additional Secretary in the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Arti Ahuja visited Surat and Ahmedabad on Friday to review the coronavirus situation and to provide necessary guidance. It will review coronavirus situation in other districts in the state on Saturday before leaving for Delhi.

"We can control the pandemic without imposing any stringent restrictions. This has been proved in Delhi and Ahmedabad. Our fight will continue for some more time. Looking at the size of our population, it will be a long journey," Paul told the media in Gandhinagar.

"This virus is going to stay here for many more months," he said. Paul praised the Gujarat government for implementing some "best practices" to contain the virus in Ahmedabad and Surat, the two worst affected districts in the state.

He listed proactive surveillance, setting up of community covid centres and use of Dhanvantari Raths or mobile vans for conducting tests among these practises. It is important to ensure safety of workers when they return to work so that factories can resume operations and "we are able to once again raise our GDP", he said.

"In Surat, authorities have come up with Standard Operating Procedures for diamond and textile units to stop the spread among the workers. We want these SOP to be given a generic form so that it can be implemented across India in other small and medium scale industries," said Paul. All India Institute of Medical Sciences director Dr Guleria said the situation has improved a lot in Ahmedabad as growth rate of cases and fatalities have come down.

"This was due to the hard work of local authorities in identifying the areas that can become future hotspots and working on them," he said. He also stressed training workers about hygiene and social distancing at work.

The central team visited Surat in the morning and held discussions with senior officials and doctors of civil hospital and also visited containment areas in the city before leaving for Ahmedabad. In Ahmedabad the team met municipal officers and doctors involved in the fight against coronavirus.

Later in the evening team members met Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and senior state government officers and provided their feedback. Coronavirus cases crossed 46,000 in Gujarat on Friday while death toll has crossed 2,100.