With the reported cases of global outbreak of coronovirus touching 1,00,000 across the globe and 31 people testing positive in India, the way the state of Kerala successfully dealt with the first three reported cases in India has come into sharp focus. A 12-member team of delegates from Telangana visited Kerala to study the measures the state had taken to contain the spread of coronavirus.
The team led by Superintendent of Gandhi Hospital P Shravan Kumar, included 5 doctors, 1 IAS officer and 6 members from the Education and Transport Department of Telangana. Together they met senior members of the Kerala Medical Board who led the team of doctors responsible for treating the 3 positive cases of coronavirus in Kerala.
They also held discussions with State Health Minister KK Shailaja Teacher and lauded the department's efforts in containing COVID-19.
"The state had meticulously followed the guidelines of the World Health Organisation (WHO). The activities both at the state and district level had been coordinated by the Health Department. Control rooms were opened at the state as well as at the district levels. Surveillance had been made stern at airports. People were sensitized. Call centres had been set up for people to clear doubts and strict action was taken against spreading fake news," the Health Minister told the delegation.
Reports quote P Shravan Kumar who praised Kerala's level of preparedness in tackling the epidemic. He stated that the health department in Kerala had followed a particular protocol in order to successfully combat the epidemic. The state health authorities had also worked out advanced measures and preventive measures which helped curtail the spread of the virus in the state, he added.
Hyderabad Chest Hospital Superintendent Dr Mehoob Khan, who was part of the delegation, said, "The government of Telangana has sent us here to understand how the Kerala government managed. We will also go and meet Nation Health Mission. Kerala has an operation module that covers from the state to local level. We also have such a plan, but we want to understand theirs and implement it in Telangana. We have also observed how isolation was done and how equipped isolation wards here are."
The group was also briefed about the coronavirus screening procedures in place at airports for all foreign travellers.
On Saturday, the second day of the study tour, the team will pay a visit to the Alappuzha district hospital where 1 case of coronavirus had been treated, where they will observe all the procedures in place to treat COVID-19 positive cases.
Following Telangana's footsteps, Odisha, Karnataka and Delhi have also sought the state's guidelines, a statement from the minister's office said.
A total of 3 cases of COVID-19 have so far been reported in Kerala since the start of the epidemic. However, all of these were medical students who had returned from Wuhan - the epicentre of the outbreak in China. The state health department's swift action prevented transfer of the virus to those who came in contact with these people. All these patients have now recovered.
Meanwhile, in Hyderabad, 1 positive case of the virus has so far been reported. A Hyderabad techie working in Bengaluru was tested positive for the virus and has been admitted to the isolation ward at the Gandhi Hospital. The second samples of two other suspected cases of coronavirus which triggered panic in Hyderabad, returned negative from the National Institute of Virology in Pune.