On Sunday, March 15, a status report by the Department of Health Services in Kerala revealed an unusual pattern. Kozhikode, a district in Kerala which has so far reported zero cases of the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 had the most number of persons in home quarantine. The district had a total of 2863 persons under quarantine with 2676 persons observed in their houses and 7 persons admitted to hospitals as on Sunday.
Kerala has reported 21 coronavirus positive cases- all these cases are from Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kannur, Thrissur and Alappuzha districts. However, authorities in Kozhikode are stepping up their vigil as the district has a high expatriate population.
TNM spoke to Dr V Jayasree, Kozhikode District Medical Officer (DMO), who confirmed that all persons who have flown in from foreign countries are being screened and placed in a 14-day home quarantine in the district.
"I am not sure of the other districts. But in Kozhikode, we are observing all international visitors for 14 days. We put them in lists regardless of the persons showing symptoms and instruct them to stay at home for 14 days. Those who exhibit symptoms in the following days are then moved to taluk hospitals," she added.
Further, each of the 70 gram panchayats in Kozhikode have constituted ward-wise Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) comprising of Anganwadi, ASHA and Kudumbashree workers, Junior Public Health Nurses, Junior Health Inspectors and other members. These teams collect information on international visitors from each household and relay instructions on safe practices such wearing masks, washing hands and using towels, to be followed during quarantine.
"We are in touch with resident associations, local political organisations, social groups and community reading centres or Vaayanashala etc. Here we see a lot of travellers who come from Qatar, which is severely affected by the virus. Members of these organisations are usually aware of the happenings in their localities and gave us information on foreign travellers who have visited houses in their wards," a member of Eramala Panchayat in Kozhikode told TNM.
Based on this information, RRT members of the ward visit these houses and prepare reports on the health status of the foreign visitors as well as their families.
Each panchayat also has a team which comprises of the Secretary, President, Medical Officer (Ayurveda), Medical Officer (Allopathy) and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) supervisor who ensure that the ward wise teams are functioning seamlessly.
"We offer all support and facilities to the wards. In case they need masks, vehicles for travel or run out of sanitisers, the Panchayat procures it for them. We also collect information on public gatherings, temple festivals, religious meetings, weddings and other events and instruct organisers on practices to be followed to ensure minimum risk of exposure," the panchayat member added.
According to the panchayat official, in the event where a particular person or family refuses to co-operate with the guidelines, the authorities inform the local police or the collectorate which take due action. The details collected by the ward wise RRTs are compiled by the health department. The guidelines followed by the district with regard to COVID-19 were issued by the Kozhikode collector after COVID-19 cases increased in the state.
In 2018, Kozhikode was the epicentre of the Nipah virus outbreak which claimed the lives of 17 people in the state. However, the state health department's quick identification of the virus and curtailing measures helped restrict its spreading.