Here is how Kerala, a small state in India, flattened the curve for COVID-19.

Kerala is a small state in India with around 30 million population. When the world was awaiting the inputs from WHO (World Health Organization) on steps to control COVID-19 spread, Kerala health department initiated strict measures to lock down the state & control the spread. The recovery rate of COVID-19 patients is higher than 95%.

World's top news channels have been publishing articles on Kerala model and forcing other states/countries to adopt the same to prevent the spread of pandemic.

As of May 6th, Kerala has only 512 cases of COVID-19 and only 3 deceased. 489 patients recovered. A miraculous 95% recovery rate. Only 20 active cases for which they are undergoing treatment.

Kerala boosted its Testing Capabilities and is currently doing almost 1000 tests per day and till day have performed more than 40K tests.

Factors that helped Kerala in flattening the curve.

1. Started Early. Didn't waste the precious time - The initial days to fight any pandemic is very crucial. Kerala didn't waste time nor waited for WHO's instructions on the pandemic protocols for lock down. Kerala initiated the protocols as soon as the first case was reported.
2. High Literacy Rate - Kerala has above 95% literacy rate, the highest literacy rate in India. People are educated and understood the seriousness of the pandemic.
3. Top class medical facility - Kerala has one of the top class medical facility in the country with experienced doctors and nurses which helped in fighting Coronavirus. In June 2019, Kerala topped all states on the NITI Aayog’s annual health index with an overall score of 74.01
4. Past Experience in fighting Nippah - Kerala had experience fighting with Nippah in 2018 & they were able to successfully contain with very less causalities. The hot spots were locked down within days of the nippah break.
5. Surveillance network - With the help of technology, the authorities set up a rigorous surveillance network to track the affected patients, develop the route map and figured out who might have came in contact with the patient.
6. Updated pandemic protocols - During the Nippah, Kerala health department updated the pandemic protocols and had developed new steps in case of a pandemic breakout.
7. Patient Contact Tracking - The health department tracked all the patients and the persons whom they got in contact for the previous 2 weeks. A route map was prepared and distributed to authorities to find the persons who came in contact. Everyone was asked to remain in home isolation for 2 weeks.
8. Testing, testing & testing - Kerala rapidly increased the testing capabilities and conducted thousands of tests per day. This helps them eliminate the negative cases soon.
9. Prevention of fake stories in social media - Kerala police Cyber unit ensured only the verified messages were published and circulated in the social media. They also prevented the spread of fake messages.
10. Community support - Kerala had set up a network of health workers couple of years back to coordinate all the activities. All these network was activated as part of protocols. This also helped the crowd to follow strict quarantine rules.
11. Health & social workers including police - Last but not the least a big thank you to the health, social workers including police and other essential services for working day night to spread awareness on break the chain campaign and helping people stay home.

Sharing few clicks from Kerala:

Thomas(aged 93) and his wife Mariamma (aged 86) had a miraculous recovery from Covid-19, return home after treatment for 23 days.

Reshma Mohandas, a nurse at the Kottayam medical college hospital, got affected with Corona while treating patients. She was discharged after recovering. She has expressed her consent to join back the duty after 14 days of observation.

Kerala developed Walk-in Sample Kiosk (WISK) to keep health workers safe while taking samples to test for COVID-19, reducing the usage of PPE usage.

Kerala police marking the Red Zone area's to prevent people from outside entering the area. No one was allowed to enter Red Zone without special permission from Police dept.

Kerala police launched coronavirus hand washing dance to bring awareness to keep the hands clean during this pandemic. This went viral & was shown in BBC.

28 days mandatory home quarantine was enforced for everyone who returned from a foreign country. Health department officials carried out door-to-door verification for them.

Hotels, Resorts, University & College hostels were converted to isolation ward for welcoming the 400,000 persons returning from foreign country.

Kerala distributed free food & grocery items for 8.7 million people including the 300K immigrant workers from other states.

Thousands of community kitchen were opened across the state serving free meals to tens and thousands of persons who had struggled to get grocery and food items.

A United States citizen has appealed to the High Court to allow him to stay in Kerala for six more months even as COVID-19 is creating havoc across the globe. Kerala is adopting better measures to check the disease than his own country and he feels much safer in Kerala.

#kerala #covid19 #coronavirus #corona #india

References:

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-india-51957656/indian-policemen-do-coronavirus-handwashing-dance

https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/04/13/999313/kerala-fight-covid-19-india-coronavirus/

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-52283748

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/elderly-couple-win-the-battle-capture-the-optimistic-spirit-of-the-state/article31252383.ece

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/21/kerala-indian-state-flattened-coronavirus-curve

https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2020/04/20/kerala-sets-an-example-for-rest-of-india-with-its-exceptional-treatment-of-guest-workers.html

https://www.deccanherald.com/national/south/kerala-nurse-who-recovered-from-coronavirus-wants-to-serve-again-in-covid-19-ward-821372.html

https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/inside-kerala-community-kitchen-during-coronavirus-lockdown-121325

https://english.manoramaonline.com/news/kerala/2020/04/30/us-theatre-artist-wants-to-stay-back-in-kerala-to-escape-coronavirus.html