The Kerala chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has condemned the state’s lockdown restrictions in a strongly worded letter, calling them “unscientific” and “ineffective”. The letter, addressed to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, comes at a time when Kerala has been seeing a huge surge in COVID-19 cases. The IMA said that the current lockdown restrictions actually encouraged people to crowd near shops and establishments.
The IMA argued that when shops are only open for only a few days in a week, the public will visit the shop more. The IMA’s letter added that even the time restrictions did not make sense as the longer a business is open, the more chance it gives for crowds to be spread out. The IMA also urged the Kerala government to change the protocols for testing for COVID-19 cases. Contact testing and tracing is the need of the hour, the letter added. While in the initial days, home isolation of COVID-19 patients was an effective strategy, it has now proved to be ineffective in Kerala in 2021, the IMA said.
“Even if one person tests positive and stays in isolation for a week, everyone is testing positive in the house. COVID-19 is spreading rapidly in Kerala houses, every house is reportedly turning into a cluster,” the letter says. The organisation also suggested that the government build FLCTS (First-line treatment centres) and community living centres where positive patients can quarantine and recover. With houses turning into COVID-19 clusters, positive patients should no longer be allowed to home quarantine and should be put up in the FLCTS and community living centre, the IMA demanded. The letter also asked the government to plan and strategise for the long term effects, as the pandemic is here to stay for a few more years.
Speaking about the vaccination programme, the letter condemned the state government’s decision to not rope in private players to vaccinate the population. The IMA added that 70% of the population depended on private hospitals in the state. “Private players were ready to distribute the government vaccines free of charge and by even foregoing the service charge. However the government said no to this,” the letter read.
The association also demanded that the state government conduct a sero prevalence study to find out the percentage of population who are still vulnerable and take measures to protect them.