Kerala’s Kasargod leads the way in Covid containment
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 18
Kerala’s Kasargod has emerged as a model district leading the way for others on Covid-19 containment.
Of 168 confirmed patients Kasargod has seen to date, 113 have been cured and discharged, representing one of the highest disease cure rates of 67.2 per cent as against the average national cure and discharge rate of 13.6 per cent.
Strategy that worked
- The Kasargod administration appointed a senior officer for coordination
- A core team with incident commanders surveyed the district for potential symptomatic cases
- Drones ensured social distancing, geo-spatial tracking kept eye on home quarantine violators
- As many as 17,373 contacts of primary cases were traced; 709 Covid care centres were built
The district now has just 55 active Covid cases, with the Health Ministry today saying that all are stable and improving. Top public health experts say the district braved several odds to come out on top on COVID management.
To start with, the third confirmed Covid case India saw on February 3 was in Kasargod and had travel history to Wuhan, China.
“Active disease surveillance was launched and contact tracing of the patient done to ensure the disease did not lead to clusters across the city. It was a tough task considering 15.38 per cent of the district population had returned from abroad. So the burden of disease from recent travelers was very high. Contact tracing, surveillance and early social distancing campaign by the name “break the chain” helped Kasargod fight Covid-19,” the Health Ministry’s review of the district containment plan says.
After the early infection imported from Wuhan, which led to the first wave of Covid in Kasargod, the second wave came in the form of locals who came back from West Asia.
As many as 17, 373 contacts of primary cases were traced by the district authorities who built 709 Covid care centres and launched door-to-door surveys for detection.
