As another COVID-19 upsurge looms over Kerala, its healthcare system is in a shambles
It may sound strange that a State which has been a role model to the country as well as the developed world in public health infrastructure contributes more than half of the new COVID-19 cases to the nation’s daily tally. Kerala was the first State in India to be declared COVID-free by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on May 8, 2020. Much water has flown down the Periyar since and Kerala tops the list of States with COVID-19 patients. Of the 25,072 new cases detected in India on Monday, 13,383 patients were from Kerala. This has been the trend for the last two months and it is time the administration took note of the unabated spike in the pandemic in a State famous for the “Kerala Model”. Despite the fearsome explosion of COVID-19 cases in the State, country’s leading virologist Dr T Jacob John has given full credit to Health Minister Veena George and her team for the diligent work they have executed to flatten the pandemic curve. But the Health Minister herself came out on Monday and asked people to be ready to face another upsurge in the cases. The Minister went to the extent of saying the State is likely to see 40,000 new cases on a daily basis and this could be checked only by vaccination.
The Kerala Government Medical Officers Association and the Indian Medical Association in their advisories issued to the administration say the new COVID-19 variant is more powerful and dangerous than the earlier one. The former, an apolitical organisation, has been pointing out the severe shortage of doctors and nurses in the State. A nurse’s administration of 793 vaccinations in seven hours at Chengannoor is being projected as a feat while elsewhere it would have sent alarm bells ringing. A team of medical experts that toured Kerala recently found to its dismay that there was no active disease surveillance or live testing process in the State. Blaming the Centre for these flaws is understandable. A State capable of offering 80 lakh Onam kits with groceries for a day’s feast should have resources to speed up the vaccination drive. The State Government should not forget that Kerala has the highest density of population while the doctor-to-patient ratio is higher than normal. And every new day brings fresh reports about doctors being assaulted by antisocial elements enjoying political patronage.