Covid-19 fight in Kerala: From alpha to beta

KOCHI

: If in 2020 Kerala received applause for its innovative approaches in fighting the pandemic, the next year exposed the loopholes in the system when the second

Covid

wave hit the state.

The state experienced most problems seen in others states due to the exponential increase in cases.

As the caseload began to rise, the government roped in private hospitals, but allegations of overcharging began to surface. With the high court intervening, the government had to cap the rates for room, consumables and even tests.

In addition, complaints about underreporting of Covid deaths, TPR manipulation and inadequate testing continued to mount. Further, the state’s vaccination drive has not been exceptional and it is yet to achieve 100% first dose vaccination coverage. Recently, Kerala has also seen an increase in breakthrough infections. The state that all through 2020 boasted of having the country’s lowest case fatality rate, is now second only to Maharashtra in the number of deaths, once it started adding backlog of unreported Covid fatalities.

In the second wave, cases peaked with the rest of India but there was no real decline and the state remained stuck on a long plateau, indicating the presence of infection in the society.

“In 2021, for the first time, Kerala model of healthcare was challenged. We failed to control the rapid spread of the

Delta

variant,” said Dr Jayakrishnan A V, chairman of IMA’s committee on Covid vaccines and vaccination strategy. As a result, Kerala remained in a lockdown mode for a prolonged period of time, leading to business closures and job losses, and there has been a string of suicides due to soaring unemployment and crippling debt. The uncertainty, psychiatrist Dr CJ John said, has led to increased stress and depression in people.

However, on a positive note, unlike in the previous year, in 2021, people have increasingly learned to live with the virus.

“Now, there is no chaotic uncertainty, be it in the case of treatment, prognosis or risk factors,” said Dr

G S Vijayakrishnan

, president of

KGMOA

.