Vinay Chandran, a Keralite medical student from Wuhan in China, talks about the situation in the Coronavirus-hit region. He writes exclusively for Manorama from Ground Zero about the lessons that Kerala can learn from China as it adopts measures on war-footing to combat the disease.
I am not sure if I should be writing this amid the Coronavirus scare. But still, I am writing this in my capacity as a medical student.
Kerala, which has been plagued by several viral diseases, can learn a lot from the precautionary measures taken by Wuhan to combat the Coronavirus.
I have been staying put at a hostel of the Wuhan University for the past several days. If I need to get out, I have to adhere to the pre-emptive measures stipulated by the government.
Right next to our hostel is one of the biggest hospitals. Several Coronavirus patients are undergoing treatment here.
A huge team to help the hospital staff and others had reached Wuhan yesterday. About 1,230 professionals are part of this team. They are experts from the medical team of China's People's Liberation Army. Apart from this, six medical teams have been set up to cater to any emergency needs.
Not just nurses and doctors, intensive care experts are also deployed at the hospitals to ensure proper treatment.
Also, two hospitals are being built in Wuhan on war-footing. The first hospital would reportedly have 1,000 beds. Authorities have already announced that another hospital too would be constructed. There would be 1,300 beds spread over 25,000 sq metres. The hospitals would be functional in 15 days.
In such situations, we depend on isolation wards. But in China, authorities are trying to combat the spread of the disease by constructing a new hospital.
But despite all the efforts, it cannot be said as to what would happen tomorrow. However, one thing is for sure, precaution is the only way to face a disaster.