A 100-member medical team from Kerala will help doctors in Mumbai tackle the COVID-19 outbreak as active cases continue to rise in India's financial capital.
An advance team has already reached Mumbai's Seven Hills Hospital, Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said on May 31.
The team will be led by SS Santhosh Kumar, deputy superintendent of Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital.
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"The issue (in Mumbai) is that many doctors and health workers serving in government hospitals are not willing to work in private hospitals," Kumar told Mumbai Mirror.
Maharashtra's Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), on May 23, sent a letter to Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja, asking for the recruitment of these doctors and nurses on a "temporary basis".
Kerala, after having managed to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, is now seeing an increase in fresh cases.
Mumbai has reported a total of nearly 40,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, which is the bulk of Maharashtra's tally of over 65,000 cases.
Maharashtra Medical Education Minister Amit Deshmukh said on May 31 that doctors and nurses would be hired on an honorarium basis to assist Mumbai during the crisis.
"The honorarium will be paid by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Eligible doctors and nurses should apply for it online," Deshmukh, as quoted by PTI.
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