Kerala: IMA urges govt to limit arrivals & increase testing

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Indian Medical Association has urged the government to increase testing to check the spread of Covid-19 in state. Kerala is in a critical phase of combating the virus, with Malayalis arriving from abroad and other states, and even a slight drop in focus will prove costly, it said.
In a set of recommendations submitted to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and health minister K K Shailaja, IMA said, “Only by conducting at least 100 tests per one lakh population can the nature of spread and severity be assessed. Other states are way ahead in testing. Testing facilities should be provided in private sector; labs and hospitals should be given permission.”
The association said the present arrangements to manage arrivals are unscientific. “Limit the number of persons returning, prioritize those who have lost jobs, pregnant women and those in urgent need. It is better to avoid people from hotspots and containment zones for the time being, necessary arrangements for them must be ensured locally,’’ said Dr Abraham Varghese, state president of IMA.
IMA pointed out that home quarantine is creating problems with people flouting norms. Their contacts could easily contract the virus and this obviously to lead to a community spread, it warned.
Healthcare workers getting infected is a serious situation leading to shortage of frontline warriors and this should be dealt with on a war footing. The infection control programme has to be revamped, the quality and availability of protection equipment -- PPE, N95 masks, etc, --have to be ensured. Detailed analysis and remedial measures are to be taken forthwith, it said.
Dr Varghese said private hospitals should be made testing sample collection centres. A periodic assessment and change in strategy can be achieved only by this method.
Till now, designated Covid hospitals could manage the patient load, but the scenario will change in a couple of days, even a week. All hospitals, including in the private sector, should be equipped to deal with Covid and non Covid patients, simultaneously.