Thiruvananthapuram: The northern district of Kasargod, which at one stage seemed to threaten Kerala’s much-acclaimed containment policy in the fight against coronavirus, has finally come under control, with the number of new cases consistently declining while more people are coming out of isolation with clearance.
The trend has been continuing for a week now, giving the authorities greater confidence. The number of new cases has not exceeded 10 over the past week.
With this, the state government is veering round to the assessment the Covid spread in the state is under control, though there is need to continue the high vigil. This is in sharp contrast to the situation in other southern states, and some of the north Indian states, where the situation is worsening.
At the same time there is widespread apprehension once the lockdown is relaxed and Keralites stranded in the affected foreign countries and other states within the country start heading back to home state, the situation could go out of control.
Handling of such heavy rush, with the need to quarantine large numbers of people, could strain on the state’s healthcare machinery. Most reported cases were attributed to those coming from virus-hit countries or those who came into direct contact with such patients.
The first instance of Covid19 attack in the state was reported when a few medical students returning from China tested positive on January 30 as the virus began to spread outside of its epicentre in Wuhan. But effective intervention ensured the cases were treated successfully and discharged.
The state suddenly worsened when a Pathanamtitta family returning from Italy, one of the worst-hit by the pandemic, dodged the monitoring system at the airport and headed home straightaway although they were carrying the deadly virus.
The family interacted with a large number of people, before a couple of relatives fell sick and sought treatment at a local hospital, leading to a massive drive of tracking down the primary contacts and quarantining them in hospitals or at homes.
It was a tribute to the efficacy of the state’s healthcare system the grandparents of the head of the Italy-returned family, one in the 90s and the other late 80s, were discharged from the hospital, though they had a history of serious health problems before they contracted the virus.
There were anxious moments when the elderly pair seemed too sick to survive. Just as the authorities declared success in containment policy in Pathanamthitta, a new outbreak was reported in Kasargod, which had a large concentration of people coming from Dubai, where one particular area was reported as highly contagious and a large number of people from the district were living there. With several affected people wandering in utter disregard to the protocol, the situation appeared to be turning desperate.
With the new reported cases for a single day crossing 100, Kerala earned the dubious distinction as the state with the highest number of coronavirus affected people in the country. After such a hard struggle, the authorities have now achieved control over Kasargod, though there is no let-up in the vigil, as the situation in the neighbouring states is evoking fears of a community infection.
