On Thursday, Kerala saw fresh COVID-19 cases surging to 26. This is the fourth highest daily COVID-19 tally in Kerala, all the other high-number days were in March; March 23 (28); March 30 (32); March 27 (39).
The highest number on Thursday was in Kasaragod, 10. Malappuram has five, Palakkad and Wayanad have three each, Kannur has two, and Pathanamthitta, Idukki and Kozhikode have one each.
Active cases in Kerala thus soars to 64. Now, Kerala has three districts with double digit active cases: Malappuram (15), Kasaragod (14), Wayanad (13). Five days ago there were none.
Fears of community transmission crop up
The spike is not only on account of the recent arrivals from outside, though 14 of the new cases on the day had come from the Gulf and other states; seven from the Gulf, four from Mumbai, two from Chennai and one from Bangalore.
The remaining 12 cases but reveal some dangerous trends within. At least three people, two staff nurses in Kasaragod (in Kanhangad and Kasaragod district hospitals) and a trader in Idukki, were found positive when tested randomly, their sources unknown. Though it is not admitted officially, this is further sign that there is silent spread in the community.
The infection in the nurses is an indication that the virus is still active in Kasaragod.
Baker's dilemma
The Idukki trader is a baker who sells bread and other bakery items to shops in Nedumkandam. “The man was busy in his shop all this day, till the police came to shut down his shop after the Chief Minister's press conference. It was only then that even he knew that he was positive,” said Mukesh Mohanan, the president of Nedumkandam Block Panchayat.
The man's samples were taken as part of the surveillance testing done to check whether there was community transmission. He was one of the many traders whose samples were randomly taken on May 11. None of the traders were asked to observe quarantine till their results came. The baker was active in the community till he was told of his infection late on Thursday evening. He has no symptoms either.
Wayanad, Sars-Cov-2's new base camp
A district that was green zone even in the first days of May now has 13 active cases. Three more in the district were declared positive on Thursday, and this includes a policeman on duty.
Two were direct contacts of the truck driver who had come with the infection from Koyambedu market in Chennai on April 29, and was tested positive on May 2. One was his son and the other his son-in-law. By now, he truck driver has infected 12.
The manner in which the policeman got seeded is a demonstration of how things could spiral out of control in Wayanad. He was infected by a 20-year-old youth who was the friend and primary contact of the truck driver's cleaner's son who had tested positive earlier. The policeman was infected when this 20-year-old was summoned to the Police Station in a 'ganja' case.
The youth is said to be the source of 'ganja' in Manathavady Taluk. He has still not opened up on his 'clients', mostly his friends. All his friends, however, have been rounded up and closely monitored for any symptoms. At least three wards in the taluk have reported suspicious symptoms in a handful of youths within their limits. The samples of at least half of them have been taken. The numbers are, therefore, expected to go up in Wayanad.
Administration's failure
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, hinting at the district administration's quick response, said the truck driver's sample was taken not because he had any symptoms but because he had come from Koyambedu. The truck driver was also asked to observe home quarantine but the district administration missed the fact that his home was a one-room shack where seven members, including a two-year-old child, lived. Already most of the members in he house had contracted the virus: the truck driver's mother, wife, son, son-in-law and grandchild.
Danger of untested arrivals
It is also clear that the arrival of people ignoring symptoms is triggering new infections. Four of the 10 fresh cases in Kasaragod, for instance, were primary and secondary contacts of a person who had returned from Chennai on May 11, and was declared positive the very next day.
One of the person who tested positive on Thursday was a local CPM leader who drove the symptomatic person from the Thalapady border to his home. Along with this man, his wife and two children have also now tested positive.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also spoke about a 44-year-old man who came with symptoms and without any travel permit with nine others in a mini bus on May 9. The man tested positive, and now his co-passengers are under close observation in Manjeri Medical College. “I have always said that people returning without proper testing and the necessary documents will put immense strain on our health system. If one person comes in like this, an entire community will be pushed into a crisis,” Pinarayi said.
Living with coronavirus
Nonetheless, the increasing numbers will not dampen the government's resolve to gradually open the economy. The chief minister said Kerala would have to alter their lifestyle to live with the virus.
"World Health Organisation has now warned that coronavirus will not probably go away. In the absence of a vaccine, coronavirus will continue to persist in the world like the HIV," Pinarayi said. He said while the government focuses on evolving specialised treatment protocols for the virus, the society should seriously consider changes in lifestyle.
Use of masks in public places was one such change that people will have to get used to. "Shops, public transport facilities, and markets should think of ways to conduct business avoiding the usual crowds," the chief minister said. He said that restaurants and shopping centres would have to provide early booking facilities and 'time slots' to customers.
