‘Flattened the curve’: Kerala marks important landmark as CM, experts warn against early celebrations

Experts say Kerala needs to be cautious due to high incident of cases in neighbouring states

Kerala on Friday completed 100 days since the first coronavirus case was reported on Jan 30 and chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the Covid 19 curve in the state had flattened marked by high recovery and low mortality rate.

Arrivals from foreign countries and the migrants movement presents a challenge to Kerala’s coronavirus declining curve. (ANI Photo/Representative)

Just one single positive case was reported today in the state taking the tally to 503, while ten cured patients were discharged from hospitals. Now, only 16 positive cases remain under medical management and they will also be discharged soon, the CM said. He added that since the pandemic was severe in certain parts of the country, the time was not ripe to lower the guard.

“The first case was reported in January and in March many cases came up all of a sudden. We managed them well. We don’t want a third bout. So we have to maintain vigil in the coming days. There is no room for any complacency now,” he said. Among the state’s 14 districts, 10 are now Covid-free.

According to experts, the state has a robust primary health sector, strengthened by successive governments, and universal literacy among women has helped in getting the message across quickly. The decentralised government structure has also made it easy for the grassroots health workers to identify, isolate and treat patients, though testing rates are low in the state.

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Migrants movement and return of expatriates from foreign countries pose a challenge to the task of keeping the curve under check. 363 people arrived in the state from the middle-east on Thursday and at least five of those were shifted to isolation wards. Similarly, those returning to the state from red zones-- at least 45,000 residents stranded in other parts of the country have returned in the last three days and many more are expected in the coming days.

A 23-year-old youth, who was in quarantine after returning from Tamil Nadu, died in a hospital in Sholayur in Palakkad district in the early hours of Friday. His relatives said he was suffering from high fever and stomach ailments.

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The youth identified as Karthick along with his four relatives had crossed over to Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu through a forest route to attend a relative’s funeral. They were quarantined after the matter came to light. Karthick’s swab was taken for testing two days ago but the result is yet to come.

Many experts have reminded that the time has not come for the state to lower its guard.

“As long as we have fragile borders with Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, chances of new cases sneaking into Kerala pose a threat. Districts like Thiruvananthapuram, Palakkad, Idukki and Kasaragod are vulnerable and utmost surveillance is the key to containment,” said Dr A Fathahudheen, professor and head of the department of pulmonology and critical care at the Government Medical College Hospital in Kochi, who has treated many Covid patients.