The success story of Kerala in dealing with the COVID-19 cases has been applauded by many. The state that saw a rise of 100 cases in 6 days (200-300) has seen only 75 cases for the last 12 days. The rise in cases has dropped by 30 percent. The recoveries, on the other hand, increased to 52 percent, highest in the country.
Other states and even the central government is planning to adopt the Kerala model in order to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. Here are the 10 things Kerala did to flatten the curve.
Immediate Response
Kerala was the first state to report a case of the novel coronavirus in the country on the 30th of January. The government immediately acted and shifted the patient to an isolation ward. A robust response team was created with 30,000 health workers making sure the disease won’t spread.
A sound public health care system
Kerala has one of the best public health care system in the country. The healthcare system is also decentralized. The local hospitals, at district and taluk level were empowered to take measures to the best of their knowledge which saved time to go to and fro to the state authorities.
Aggressive Testing
Kerala carried out aggressive testing in the state has the second-highest number of tests conducted behind Maharashtra. Sample collecting centers were established at district and local levels. Even though the state conducted tests as per protocol, the village council and the grassroots level democracy which made people aware of the outbreak helped the state.
Intense Contact Tracing
Once a person was tested positive, an intense contact tracing followed. Kerala government introduced spatio temporal mapping where a detailed flowchart was formulated with date, time and movement of the person based on call details and CCTV footages.
Extended Quarantine Facility
The Quarantine period in the state of Kerala was extended to 28 days, double the time prescribed by the World Health Organization. This is because the state observed that the asymptomatic patients developed symptoms after the 14 days incubation period. In a way, this contained the possible spread.
Shelters put up for migrant laborers
Before the migrant crisis broke out in other cities, the state had set up shelters for the migrant laborers with the facility of food and medicines making sure they never had to leave the place. Since the state had announced lockdown prior to the national lockdown, it benefitted in the migrant situation.
COVID-19 Care Centers
A set of COVID-19 care centers were set up for people from other states who visited the state for work or as a tourist. They were given shelter in the care centers and were looked after.
NGO and Social Support
Various NGOs and communities came forward and set up community kitchens and made sure food is distributed to the poor and the needy. This also reduced the panic among the poor and the needy. The contribution of NGOs and social communities is huge in Kerala’s success.
Doctors were kept safe
Kerala has a 3-tier health care system. The doctors were divided into three teams – one team looked into COVID-19 cases and isolation wards, the second team handled outpatient cases and emergency cases and the third team of doctors stayed at home on leave who were prepared to come in case of need. In this way, the state ensured the healthcare workers are safe from the virus.
Abundant Information
The State Health Minister KK Shailaja and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan addressed the press conference every day and reached out to the people, keeping them up to date with the virus and ensuring there isn’t any dilemma or fake news that might have led to a crisis of its own.
Source: BBC
