On March 6, a doctor at the Ranni Taluk Hospital suspected COVID-19 in a couple from Aythala who approached him with fever. Three relatives from Italy were at their home. In an hour they were all shifted to the isolation ward at the Pathanamthitta General Hospital on the instructions of District Collector P.B. Noohu and District Medical Officer (DMO) A.L.Sheeja. On March 7, Health Minister K.K.Shylaja broke the news of them testing positive for COVID-19.
The sleepy village of Aythala in Ranni was identified as the epicentre of the pandemic that sent shock waves across the State. A shell-shocked Ranni went into a self-imposed lockdown. Scared of infection, people restricted themselves to homes. Shops downed shutters and vehicles kept off the road. The elderly parents of the Italian residents too tested positive for COVID-19.
Health surveillance teams, with the backing of the Health Minister, local MLA, Collector, DMO and National Health Mission coordinator Aby Sushan, identified and quarantined 1,250 primary and secondary contacts of the infected persons in the next 24 hours. A total of eight primary contacts of the three infected persons from Italy and a nurse who took care of their parents tested positive for the disease.
How it’s achieved
Mr. Noohu said people’s representatives, officials, and volunteers worked with the single agenda of abating the COVID-19 threat at the earliest. “We met every morning and evening to review activities, noted down the hotspots of the disease outside Kerala, identified people coming from those places, and ensured special quarantine for them,” he said.
Dr. Sheeja said the department could deploy as many as 10,000 people, including ASHA workers, permanent staff, and those on contract, in a concerted effort to check the community spread of the disease.
So far, 15 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Pathanamthitta and eight of them were cured of the disease and returned home last week.
Addressing a videoconference, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba lauded the district authorities for preventing community spread of the pandemic in Pathanamthitta.
Local MLA Raju Abraham said the people of Ranni played a key role in preventing the community spread of the disease. “The Pathanamthitta-model campaign has again highlighted the efficiency of the State’s public health system,” Mr Abraham said.