With its efforts, Kerala appears to have finally flattened the curve on COVID-19 cases.
Kerala’s steps on the virus are easy to follow, but its success rate is difficult to be replicated in other states. Here is why.
What are the recent developments?
Kerala had containment strategies in place even before the first case of novel coronavirus was detected there on January 30, 2020.
Since April 22, except on four days, the number of new cases reported has remained either the same or fewer than the number of recoveries.
On May 1, 2020 for the first time, the State reported zero new cases, and again on two consecutive days - May 3 and May 4.
Zero fresh cases on three days in May appear to be a good sign.
There have been just three deaths, a case fatality rate of 0.6% against the national average of 3.3%.
What could this be credited to?
Kerala did not wait for directions from the Centre but instead led from the front from the beginning.
The number of cases increased to 12 on March 10 (a day before WHO declared the coronavirus a pandemic).
The same day, Kerala -
shut down all educational institutions and entertainment centres
banned large gatherings
appealed to people to avoid visiting religious places
On May 2, the ICMR lauded the State for the “unparalleled” containment and testing strategies and referred to it as the “Kerala model”.
What is unique to Kerala?
Kerala has very good health-care infrastructure in place, down to the primary health-care centres.
But what sets it apart from other States is the manner in which it followed textbook epidemiology protocols.
It did this well before the ICMR advocated them.
Also, the entire health-care infrastructure worked in tandem despite being decentralised.
Political leadership and the complete involvement of the government at all levels with the bureaucracy and local community have been a huge advantage.
The very different health-seeking behaviour and high literacy among people have also played a pivotal role.
The active involvement of all the stakeholders is not something which was put in place during the crisis, but rather a legacy of the State.
The COVID-19 containment is a success born out of decades-old social revolution and development.
This is a prime reason why other States, even if they emulate the measures adopted by Kerala to fight the virus, may not be able to achieve the same level of success.
