Stephan Kayyar
Daijiworld Media Network - Kasargod (SP)
Kasargod, Aug 3: It has been six months since the first ever coronavirus positive case was reported in the city. On February 3 this year, the first ever case of coronavirus infection from Kasargod, which also happened to be the third in the country, occurred here.
This infection was found from a student who had returned from Wuhan in China. The health department, which took serious note of the infection, took all the precautionary measures and succeeded in keeping the disease under check.
The said student had recovered and had been discharged on February 16. But on March 17 two were confirmed to have been contracted with the disease through a person who came from Dubai. Second phase of infection began to appear in the district, which went on increasing every day. The number of infected persons went up gradually, reaching five persons each on February 21 and 22.
The number of infections increased to 19 on February 23 and 33 on February 27. Later, strict measures taken by the department brought the number of infection within a single digit. The health department locked down the district since February 22 and sealed borders. Even the movement of buses was suspended, and colleges and schools were closed.
After it came to light that an infected person employed in the Gulf had taken part in various corona-related programmes, many including legislators from Kasargod and Manjeshwar who had come in contact with the said person had to be quarantined. Later it transpired that the man had spread infections to 22 persons. The district administration enforced strict measures therefore and succeeded in bringing the infections under control.
Special wards were opened in the Kasargod general hospital and district hospital to extend treatment to infected persons. With the efforts of district collector Dr D Sajith Babu and district health officer Dr V Ramdas, Kasargod Medical College Hospital at Ukkinadka which was under construction was converted into district COVID hospital with 300 beds. In the meantime, closure of the border by Karnataka had taken some patients to the verge of losing lives. Tata Group offered to provide a 1,000-bed COVID hospital facility near Chanttanchal, which is eight km away from the city. The hospital construction is in the finishing stages now.
On May 10, Kerala became completely infection-free and attracted a lot of international attention. As many as 178 infected persons in two phases were healed and not a single death was reported. On May 11 however, four were confirmed with coronavirus infection. After people from other states and countries were allowed to enter the state, the infection rate went up. On July 22, the number of infections crossed a century, touching 101. Thereafter, it was limited to two digits but on August 1, it rose to 153 and on August 2, it went up to 113. During the last one week, infections have crossed 600.
In the third phase, 1,731 have been infected. The spread of the disease has worsened in the recent past. So far, six have become victims of this disease in this district, after a woman from Uppala became the first victim for the disease in the district on July 17. The disease is spreading mostly through primary contact.