As Kerala Slows Coronavirus Cases, How A Hotspot Turned Its Story Around

Entry and exits have been sealed off in seven zones of Kasaragod, the police said

In Kerala's Kasaragod district, which accounts for 44 per cent of the state's coronavirus cases, the rate of recovery is more than three times the national average. One of the worst COVID-19 hotspots in Kerala has not reported a single death till now, even as the daily jump has spiked nationwide.

Superstar Mohanlal, in an awareness video put out by Kerala police, has shared two WhatsApp numbers for people in Kasaragod to get essential supplies. The video shows the police delivering essentials door-to-door - just one of the services being provided by cops in the district.

Home delivery by cops has been strongly enforced in the seven zones of Kasaragod, where all the COVID 19 cases have been reported. These seven zones have been isolated, with entry and exits sealed off. Not one person is being allowed to exit their homes in these zones, a senior police official told NDTV.

A dedicated COVID-19 hospital was set up in Kasaragod in a matter of few days earlier this month and medical teams were moved from Thiruvananthapuram to the northern most district.

Kerala, the state that reported the country's first coronavirus case on January 30, has now begun flattening its curve, according to Finance Minister Thomas Isaac.

COVID-19 curve of Kerala has started to flatten. The active cases for the last one week has declined. The recovered cases (green curve) will cross the yellow curve soon.#COVID2019#COVIDpic.twitter.com/G9nja0UYCU

— Thomas Isaac (@drthomasisaac) April 12, 2020

"We have our job cut out. To ensure zero new cases by this month end. And, the police have been going all out to ensure minimal movement during the lockdown, to contain the spread. We are beginning to see the results," Inspector General of Police Vijay Sakhare told NDTV.

Sixty-one of the 166 coronavirus cases in Kasaragod have recovered. Sources say the district is preparing for an extended lockdown of two weeks.

Over 3,000 primary and secondary contacts of COVID-19 infected persons have been isolated in the district. This figure does not include the thousands who returned from abroad in the district and have been under strict surveillance.

Police are guarding high risk homes and a drone is monitoring the lockdown in each of the seven containment zones. Police patrol teams and a COVID-19 safety app are being used to track any physical movement closely.

"We are tracking every person meant to be in isolation through this app. We have actively used call data records and Internet Protocol to track violations and to ensure a complete lockdown. We are tracking a data base of around 14,000 people in the district alone," said Mr Sakhare.

Around 12:30 pm at one of the rural areas sealed in Kasaragod, an elderly man was patched on a video call to a doctor with the help of a camera attached to a drone operated by the police.

Doctors on-call is among the services rolled out by the cops to ensure people under isolation do not leave their homes. Around 9,000 such telemedicine calls have been provided for by police teams since March 23. Mostly, it has been for people above 50.

"We have started community level testing in Kasaragod. We have taken 100 samples from different zones of people who were showing mild symptoms similar to COVID 19 , but were not part of the contact tracing list of any case. Each of those 100 samples have tested negative. There is no evidence at this point of a community transmission," Ramdas AV, Kasaragod District Medical Officer, told NDTV. The district has tested over 2,000 samples in all, according to the official.

The recovery rate for Kasaragod is 38 per cent compared to the national average of 11.4 %, according to Dr Ramdas.