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Even though Maharashtra has been grappling with the most number of COVID-19 cases, Kerala has been the worst hit. The total number of active cases now in Kerala stand at 185. 20 new cases were reported in the state within the last 24 hours. 8 fresh cases came to light from Kannur, 7 tested positive in Kasaragod, the hotbed of the pandemic in the state. A new case was also reported from Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad and Malappuram. Of the new cases, 18 return from abroad and infected another 2.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has announced that the state has initiated all steps for mass production of medical equipment and accessories including ventilators and N-95 masks.
As contact tracing has gained absolute importance, Gopikrishnan Unnithan, a reporter from Thiruvananthapuram , reported to India Today of methods that the Kerala Government has started to adopt which other states can emulate to ensure that this spread is curbed. He stated that the State Government has decided to consider each patient as a single index point or an index patient and put in huge efforts to firstly, track primary contacts – people that have come in immediate contact, who could have touched this patient or who could have come into intimate contact with the said patient. To be on the safer side, the Government has taken this a step further to trace back secondary contacts as well. This procedure has been applied to people who have not accurately revealed their travel history, or have used public transport facilities to commute from an airport to their respective places, or to people who have not followed the home quarantine system from the second week of March, irrespective of showing symptoms of being affected.
One of the patients in Kasaragod landed in Calicut, which is about 200kms from Kasaragod and from there, took a train to reach his hometown but did not follow the home quarantine system guideline. The State Government was made to trace out every single area that he had visited and remember that particular root map he had visited after his return, increasing their burden that much more. To make things worse, his schedule included a reception, a marriage and a house-warming ritual. This goes to show the effect that a single person might have and the burden of tracing out primary and secondary contacts when an individual does not abide by the guideline provided. This patient has been stated to be the reason there have been large number of upcoming cases in Kasaragod. The Government has been doing a tough job and hoping this won’t spiral into a community spread, at least for the time being.
It has become increasingly important for people with a travel history and people who have come in contact with an affected person to voluntarily come by to report and take up responsibility to help the Government.
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