‘Advance planning flattened curve’
Kerala’s health minister K.K. Shailaja, popularly known as Teacher, received worldwide acclaim for her handling of the Covid-19 situation. Under her leadership, Kerala succeeded in flattening the curve and registering perhaps the lowest death rate in the world besides a very high recovery rate.
The 63-year-old minister has no time to sit on her laurels as she prepares to meet the fresh challenge posed by the recent spike in Covid-19 cases after Keralites started returning home with the lifting of travel restrictions.
In this exclusive interview with Gilvester Assary, Dr Shailaja shares her success mantra. Excerpts:
How prepared are you to tackle the spike in Covid-19 cases?
Our effort is to flatten the curve. We had anticipated this situation. Because of timely measures we could tackle the three cases from Wuhan successfully, by not allowing any spread. Then came a couple from Italy which jumped quarantine norms, resulting in contact cases. Till the second phase we had 70 per cent imported cases and 10 per cent contact cases. Through effective quarantine measures, we succeeded in flattening the curve.
What is behind the success of the Kerala model?
I think it was comprehensive planning, well in advance. We started planning when Wuhan started reported Coronavirus cases in January. The health department constituted 18 expert groups and training for health care staff began. There was detailed stock-taking of beds, equipment and staff strength in each hospital. All this was completed before Kerala received its first case from Wuhan on January 30. In the initial stage we had just three cases which were tackled successfully. When the cases began to increase, the Chief Minister convened a meeting of all departments and entrusted specific responsibilities.
Our effort was to bring all positive cases under government treatment facility and provide free treatment. Even foreigners were given free treatment. We had British citizens, including senior citizens, under treatment at the Ernakulam Medical College. The British High
Commissioner contacted the Chief Minister's office saying their nationals could be shifted to private hospitals and they would bear the expenses. The Chief Minister said that if the British nationals want to be treated in private hospitals, they may be permitted. When we asked them, they preferred to get treated at the government medical college and lauded the facilities. Before leaving India after recovery, they thanked us profusely. The Nipah outbreak in 2018 helped us developing good team work, effective coordination between of the medical education directorate and the health department and putting in place standard operating procedures and protocols.
Are you worried that the situation could go out of hand?
After the withdrawal of travel restrictions, people are coming by the air and sea routes, road and rail. We have created plan A, B and C to deal with different stages of Covid-19, where the cases are low, high and extremely high.
In medical colleges in each district, we have set aside 500-600 beds, 200-300 beds in taluk hospitals and hotels have been earmarked as Covid hospitals. The human resources required for the bed strength has been mobilised, the private sector roped in and the staff trained. We requested the Centre to allow only people in the priority category — pregnant women, children, elderly, chronic patients, those who lost jobs and whose visa had expired — to return home. This was to prevent a situation where 7 to 8 lakh people returned all of sudden.
Surveillance teams have been deployed at airports, entry passes made mandatory for people coming by road, help desks have been set up at the border checkposts to segregate people district-wise and send them to their respective destinations.
Has community spread of Covid-19 started in Kerala?
There is no community spread as of now but we can’t say that it will not happen tomorrow. Only when a large number of cases is reported from the community, and that too with no travel history, can we suspect community spread.
Nipah outbreak in 2018 helped us develop a good team work. — K.K. SHAILAJA Kerala Health Minister