There is a sense of nervousness prevailing all over Tamil Nadu every evening when it is time for the Directorate of Health and Family Welfare Department to release the medical bulletin carrying the number of patients tested positive for coronavirus in the State.
Even as people pray silently for a decrease in the number of patients and flattening of the corona curve, the news that comes out of the daily bulletin is that of unabated increase in people affected by the pandemic.
During the initial days of the breaking out of the covid-19 disease, Tamil Nadu was well behind its southern neighbor in the number of corona patients. But by the last week of March, Tamil Nadu was far ahead of Kerala in the number of covid-19 patients. Initially the increase was in the order of 70s, 80s and 100s. The last few days saw the number of patients increasing by 500 and 700 and racing towards the 5,000 mark.
After an initial hiccup Kerala managed to contain the pandemic and by the first week of May has almost eradicated the coronavirus from the State. Till Wednesday evening, the State had 502 confirmed patients while 469 have recovered from the pandemic. The State saw 4 persons succumbing to the pandemic. Till date, Kerala has tested 35,000 samples, much below than that of Tamil Nadu. There were no positive cases recorded during the last four days in the State except one in Wynadu district in the Western Ghats.
Dr Nirmala Sanu George, advisor to the Sixth State Finance Commission who works closely with Kerala Minister for Health K K Shailaja said that the State could fortify itself against the corona virus attack through four factors. “We could bring in an attitudinal change among the general public and streamline the health system with free flow of information and data. The involvement of the Government staff as well as the members of the local bodies (the last mile connectivity) in taking the battle to the turf of corona virus and a well prepared team of doctors and para medical staff.. these are the factors which helped Kerala in containing the disease,” said Dr Nirmala.
K Narendran, a health care professional with more than four decades of experience in corporate hospitals as administrator, said the two fronts which ruled Kerala alternately between them (the Congress-led UDF and the CPI(M) led LDF) ensured that the health care in the State always retained a minimum standard. “There is no scarcity of primary health centres or hospitals. But we should thank the family physician system prevailed in the State for decades which laid the foundation for a strong treatment protocols. The super specialty hospitals and corporate hospitals are late entrants. We also have to acknowledge the role played by the Church in setting up hospitals in areas inaccessible even during normal times. Cynics may say it was for religious conversion and making profits. But the truth remains that some of the best hospitals and educational institutions in the State are run by the Church despite this criticism,” said Narendran.
Dr Madhu, a physician with three decades of experience in the Government Service concurred with Narendran. “It was a synchronized operation by the government and private sector. Kerala has always been credited with cleanliness and sanitation and that could be one of the reasons for the containment of the pandemic in the State,” said Dr Madhu who did not hide his anxiety over the return of expatriates from West Asian countries starting Thursday. “Till date it was smooth. Our mortality rate was less compared to other States. Kerala has registered only four deaths till Thursday though 93 Keralaites had succumbed to coronavirus in West Asia, Europe and USA,” said Dr Madhu who remained non-committal when asked about the return of the expatriate Keralites.
Credit is also due to K Karunakaran, A K Antony and Oommen Chandi, the former chief ministers along with Pinarayi Vijayan who all made health sector their top priority. Chandi is known for his catchword “Health cannot wait” during his days as Finance Minister.
Along with the family physicians in small towns, Kerala’s rural areas were serviced by traditional physicians (vaidyan in Malayalam ) who knew the health pattern of all their clients. Gone are the days of 1960s and 1970s when chief ministers like E M Sankaran Namboodirippadu and C Achutha Menon used to take the next available flights to Rumania and East Berlin for any medical treatment.