The Kerela Model

We all have observed how the danger of coronavirus originated in the starting of March month. When the cases were rising in India, to around 600-700, most of them were either from Maharashtra or Kerela. But within a few weeks, Kerela has controlled the pandemic to an extent quite appreciable.

Before getting into the "Kerela model", let's find out why Kerela was one of the initial hotspots of coronavirus in our country.

WHY KERELA WAS IN DANGER?

Before such a strong move against the coronavirus, there were things that became the drawback for the state. Ironically some of them were the strengths of the state and will be strength forever. The reason for pandemic hit in Kerela were:

1. Kerela's major export includes its skilled workers, for which it receives a healthy revenue from abroad.
2. Kerela is a hub for tourism not only for India but also for the people living across the world.
3. The first three COVID-19 hit patients were evacuated from the Wuhan by the Indian government during February.

The first two reasons were the quality that Kerela pursue. A state with the highest literacy rate in India certainly produces highly skilled workers which are in demand. But COVID-19 is something that hits the travelers more, and these workers were being exported.   

The third reason was the major drawback that played a key role in increasing the number of cases in the following weeks.

NIPAH VIRUS OUTBREAK 2018

In 2018, there was an outbreak of Nipah virus in the Kerela state. It symptoms include brain fever, fever with cough, and respiratory infection. The outbreak was mainly in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts. It killed 17 people.

Nipah also spread from animals to humans. It was considered the most dangerous. With no cure or vaccine, Kerela still managed to contain it effectively. This may be a very big lesson as well as motivation Kerela has in order to fight against Coronavirus.

HOW DID KERELA FOUGHT COVID-19?

By March 24, Kerela has more than 100 cases. The 2.5% population of the country had around 20% of the total corona patients in the country. If we analyze the data today, the curve has totally flatten for the state.

Kerela had a very decentralized system. In the healthcare system, there is an appropriate division of labour in both public as well as private sectors. When the Kerela was hit by a flood in 2018 this very system helped the state to recover.

Kerela imposed a strict lockdown before the national announcement. The quarantine period is longer than that of the nation, it is of 28 days in the state. Supplies are home-delivered mostly, even the mid-day meals are sent to the home as the schools are shut.

Thousands of state-employed health workers and volunteers conducted an aggressive contact-tracing. It was an approach that involved the society along with the government, even student came in, for taking maximum samples as done by South Korea. The series of such activities helped the state in controlling the coronavirus.

EQUIPPED MEDICAL SYSTEM

Kerela was the first test to procure rapid test kits from Mylab, Pune. It used the centrally procured polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Even the largest hospitals in the world are getting overrun, we have really important lessons to be learned from Kerela. From Getting the first patient in January to a very high recovery rate and very less deaths (just 3), is appreciable.

There were counselors who were constantly in contact with the normal people as well as workers working in the hotspot areas. They were discussing about dealing with stress.

There were more than a dozen labs in the state doing 800 tests per day which is quite a large and aggressive testing number, essential for the public's health. This helped in performing mass quarantine and information about the testing, quarantining or any other issue was put forward to the public on regular basis.

Kerela has the highest rate of communicable disease. People here are suffering mostly from diabetes, heart diseases, respiratory and liver diseases. Still, the healthcare system managed to work progressively and Kerela is consequently having fewer new cases and better recovery.



We can't say that Kerela is corona free but there is an approach that Kerela government is using. Not only the government but also the society is equally participating in spite of their own problems.
Sadly our media has no news about the Kerela model to show. There is no coverage of Kerela ever shown by the media. There would be debates going on about various other issues.

Maybe those debates make sense, but the nation needs a solution right now. We can't predict the future of Kerela but if the actions are done in a similar fashion as Kerela across the whole country we would be having better results and most importantly better learning.

Thanks for reading.