A year after corona entered india, Kerala still battles on

It has been just over one year since India reported its first case of Covid-19 and as far as the country’s battle against the pandemic is concerned, the worst appears to be over, though the threat is still to pass. However, the battle narrative of one state stands in stark contrast to that of the rest of the country.

Kerala reported the nation’s first infection on January 30 last year—a student who returned from Wuhan—and the state was hailed as a model in the initial days of the outbreak for the way it contained the virus. Its administration was praised for the effective and timely response and its chief minister and health minister for the leadership they provided.

One year on, its reputation lies shattered. Consider this: Kerala currently accounts for nearly half of the fresh cases reported in the country, tops the table in number of patients, has a test positivity rate that’s nearly double the national average, and is the third most affected in terms of confirmed infections, behind only Maharashtra and Karnataka. The only silver lining is the death count: It has one of the lowest case fatality ratios in the country.

So what went wrong? Many things. One, complacency after the initial success. The government seemed more focused on maintaining its image (by keeping the numbers down) than coming up with and implementing measures to effectively deal with the virus. Two, a baffling testing strategy that failed to keep pace with the rising infections. The overdependence on the less-reliable antigen tests—which accounted for two-thirds of the total tests—is said to be a major factor.

Three, relaxations allowed for festivals. While Onam triggered the first big spike, Christmas and New Year contributed to the spread. Four, protests and an election. Even as the Covid restrictions did not bother political parties that organised non-stop mass protests, all rules were blatantly ignored in the recent local body election. It’s a situation that the state brought upon itself.

The administration seems to have finally woken up to the enormity of the crisis at hand and decided to tighten vigil and ramp up tests. One thing is certain—with the situation threatening to spiral out of control, there’s no time to lose. A course correction in Kerala’s anti-Covid strategy is imperative.