Congress workers block central health officials

KOZHIKODE: A group of Congress workers blocked the central team of health officials which is touring eight districts of Kerala since Saturday to study the reason behind the surge in Covid-19 cases following the directive from the union health ministry. The Congress workers blocked them at Chaliyam in Kozhikode on Sunday.

The Congress workers blocked the Central health delegation citing the discrepancies in vaccine allocation. They alleged that at the Primary Health Centre at Chaliyam in Kozhikode, vaccines are given only to CPM workers.

The central health ministry delegation patiently heard the complaints raised by the Congress workers who were around 30 in number and noted down their suggestions.

Later the Chaliyam Village officials called up the Police and it was only after the intervention of the police team that the Congress workers allowed the central team to move ahead.

A six-member central team led by Dr S.K. Singh, Director, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)since Saturday is touring eight districts of the state where most of the Covid cases are being reported.

The union health ministry has deputed this multidisciplinary team to collaborate with the state health department for effective controlling and managing Covid-19 situation in the state.

The team is split into two with Dr S.K. Singh, Dr S.K. Jain, advisor, public health NCDC, New Delhi, Dr Pranay Varma, deputy director, NCDC and Dr Ruchi Jain, public health specialist are touring the southern districts of the state -- Kollam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta and Thiruvananthapuram.

The second team of Dr P. Raveendran, Deputy Director-General, DM cell, ministry of health and family welfare, Dr K. Reghu, additional director, Kozhikode branch, National Centre for Disease Control is touring the northern districts of Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargod.

The two teams are specifically looking at areas like testing, contact tracing, surveillance and containment operations. The teams will work closely with the state health department to take stock of on-ground situation and recommend necessary interventions.