How to go about it, Kerala shows way

Sreevalsan Thiyyadi in Kochi

T HE near-vacant corridors manifest the grimness enveloping the hospital, where Dr Rajesh K Thankappan washes hands thoroughly after each round of consultation. His workplace reported India’s first corona-positive case — seven weeks ago.

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“The Covid-19 threat, after a lull, has intensified. Let’s be very vigilant,” says the surgeon at the Government General Hospital in Thrissur. The central Kerala town was in the news in January-end when a Malayali student from China’s Wuhan was diagnosed with the pathogen known to cause respiratory illness that can be deadly. By this weekend, Kerala had registered 40 corona cases (no deaths), ranking second in the country (after Maharashtra).

Fear over a devil of a virus runs high in God’s Own Country. People in upstate Kasargod, with a noticeable number of families having members working abroad, are getting a phobia for those returning from West Asia. Down south, capital Thiruvananthapuram saw Union minister V Muraleedharan placing himself in quarantine after visiting a top health institute that diagnosed an official with corona following a trip to Spain. The medical centre moved 76 employees (one-third doctors) to an isolation ward.

Health centres have begun screening visitors. Dr MN Girija, who practises in Ochira of Kollam district, says her hospital lets in patients only after they fill in a form with three questions. “The answers give an idea about one’s probability of carrying the virus,” she says. The tables in consultation rooms have just glass-sheets on them; the cloth-covers have been removed. “Like all hospitals, we too don’t admit patients with suspected corona. We refer them to the health authorities.”

Contrasting with its Arabian coast, Kerala has hills along the east. Kattappana in Idukki district, for instance. “Ours is a quiet town; it’s more so these days. No one ventures out,” says Dr Anil Pradeep, recalling the March 15 off-loading of a tourist aboard a UAE-bound flight in Kochi airport. The corona-positive Briton had just been to Idukki’s scenic Munnar.

Alternative medical practitioners are volunteering help. East of Kochi, Chottanikara has students of a homeopathy college distributing “preventive pills” in houses, says Dr Janaki Krishnan of the institution.

Paramedics, too, are busy. The Kerala Government Nurses Association (KGNA), noting that its uniformed caregivers spend “95 per cent of the day” in contact with patients, says any hospital inmate with cold or cough is a potential corona case. “We are optimistic of overcoming this crisis. We make best use of the PPE kit,” says KGNA official Sudheeshkumar NB, referring to the personal protective equipment. “The state has ample stock of it.”

Kerala’s world-class healthcare system finds fresh highlight when the government’s workers on the ground reveal stories of working hours — corona or otherwise. Suresh Jayan, junior health inspector in Avanur village near Mulakunnathukavu where Thrissur district has its 1982-founded government medical college, says a strong grassroots network enables the state to promptly detect instances of a potential pandemic.

“If there’s a whiff of flu, someone in the vicinity will alert us. Over phone, we provide all advice and tips. If needed, we visit them with all precautions. In the odd case of non-conformity or disobedience, we inform the police,” he reveals. “In any case, we routinely hold monthly meetings of ASHA and Anganwadi workers along with residents’ associations.”

The spirit shows — as is clear from a youngster in an interior Palakkad belt. Farook Cherpulassery, enthused by Health Minister KK Shailaja’s counter-corona conduct that has earned her mass appreciation, comments thus below her Facebook post: “Please give me a call if my efforts can be put to good use for more number of people.”

Dr GS Vijayakrishnan of the Kerala Government Medical Officers Association says whoever is back from a stay anywhere abroad warrants medical check-up. “We can’t enter the third stage of corona spread,” he cautions. Chimes in Dr Anoopkumar AS, handling critical care medicine at a leading Kozhikode hospital: “Unlike Nipah (that claimed 17 lives of the 19 cases in the summer of 2018), the coronavirus strikes with lesser mortality: two among 100 patients. The young and healthy resist it better. No complacence, though.”

Kasargod’s health officials are busy with awareness drives that include compassion for the Gulf returnees, says District Surveillance Officer Manoj AT.

A Kottayam-based doctor, who doesn’t want to be named, finds piquancy in his personal and professional life. “In hospital, the patients want me desperately. Outside, my friends slink away when I try to join them at the badminton court.” Adds Dr Girija: “More than the disease, it seems the possible isolation scares people.”

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