Infiltration through porous borders worries officials

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The health department has raised serious concern over the infiltration of people from neighbouring states to Kerala through porous borders.  Already there is a possibility of a margin of error in tracing the contacts of Covid tested patients. If people start to slip into the state through borders, all the efforts being taken by the health department to contain the virus would go in vain. The department has sought inter-department and inter-state surveillance in the border hamlets to check the infiltration. There were reports that those who wish to get into the state are being helped by some racketeers to evade police patrol in border places. 

A senior health officer said the aggressive screening measures which have started to yield positive results are being thwarted by some who violate the lockdown restrictions and evade the security checks by slipping into the state through forests and tea plantations bordering mainly with Tamil Nadu. Such attempts by all means will bring a catastrophic effect into the public health of the state, he said while calling for increased surveillance in vulnerable areas and citizen policing in critical areas.

The state police headquarters has admitted to  infiltration attempts in districts bordering Tamil Nadu in view of the Easter and Vishu. The district police chiefs, especially those who have jurisdiction of districts sharing borders with Tamil Nadu have been asked to maintain extra vigil to foil such attempts. In areas close to checkposts like Kaliyikkavila and Parassala in Thiruvananthapuram, tea estates and forest tracts bordering Idukki, and Malakkapara and Valppara in Thrissur have reported more such cases. 

Margin of error
The state could contain the spread of virus by deploying around 40,000 health workers, including Asha workers, as field staff who traced the contacts of Covid tested people. However, there lies a possibility for a margin of error in contact tracing. The margin of error could vary from patient to patient. In some cases, it would be 20 per cent while in some cases it would be one or 2 per cent, said health officials.

Though the workers have zeroed in all the contact list of Covid positive patients, there is a marginal chance for some contacts missing out. People can be contagious even before realising they are infected, identified or isolated. The officials who deal with contact tracing decide the margin of error they want to work with or if they would like to look more closely at someone.