Hyderabad, As part of its containment strategy to tackle the COVID-19 spread in the state, the Telangana government has drafted students of Public Health, from the University of Hyderabad (UoH).

The students will be deployed for conducting epidemiological fieldwork in various districts across the State.

As many as 15 students of the second-semester Master of Public Health (MPH) course have volunteered for the work, the university officials said on Thursday. The students have received orders from district authorities to participate in active and passive surveillance teams.

Telangana, through the Office of the Director for Public Health and Family Welfare of the Ministry of Health, has undertaken a statewide surveillance and containment strategy against Covid-19 in line with the recommendation of WHO for Global Surveillance strategy for human infection.

Lauding the students for volunteering to serve in the hour of crisis, Vice-Chancellor of University of Hyderabad, Prof. Appa Rao Podile described it as part of the university's social responsibility mandate. "For students of public health of our university, this is indeed a valuable opportunity for gaining hands-on experience in a field in which they are getting trained", he said.

Apart from the Public Health students, four research scholars and 30 students, including current MPH seniors and alumni, have volunteered to work with the Telangana government for the humanitarian cause.