New Delhi, Feb 2 (IANS): The Health Ministry has deputed two high-level multi-disciplinary teams to visit Kerala and Maharashtra to collaborate with the health authorities to take steps for effective COVID-19 management, officials said on Tuesday.

Both Kerala and Maharashtra alone account for almost 70 per cent of the active coronavirus cases in India, a Ministry release said. This comes at a time when almost all other states/Union Territories are showing a decline in cases as well as deaths due to COVID-19.

The central team assigned to Maharashtra comprises experts drawn from the National Centre for Disease Control and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi. The Kerala team comprises senior officials from the Health and Family Welfare Ministry along with experts from the regional office of H&FW Ministry at Thiruvananthapuram and the Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi.

The teams will work closely with the respective health departments and take stock of the ground situation and recommend necessary public health interventions to contain the disease, they added.

Maharashtra has recorded 44,944 active cases, 19,32,294 recoveries and 51,109 COVID-19 deaths. Kerala has at present 69,456 active cases, 8,59,421 recoveries and 3,760 fatalities.