The most worrying feature of the extremely serious situation has been the tendency to ignore the strict guidelines issued b y the Health Department by resorts and hotels.

Just one case will illustrate the point that the instructions are being ignored by the Government-owned Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTD) makes it inexcusable. The gravity of the offence can be gauged from the following incident.

A 57-year-old UK national, who tested positive but fled quarantine at a resort in Munnar, had to be offloaded from a Dubai-bound flight from Kochi airport. His wife and 17 others who were part of the tourist group were offloaded too. While the UK national and wife have been admitted to a hospital, others have been sent to a hotel for quarantine. According to Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja, the tourist had left the resort, a KTDC undertaking, without informing the health authorities.

The UK citizen, who had arrived on March 1, had tested positive a day before he tried to leave for UK. The health workers had met him at the resort and advised him to stay back. But when they reached the resort with an ambulance to shift him to hospital, the man and others had left for the airport.

It was a serious lapse by the resort owners as they had allowed the British national to leave without the permission of the health authorities. The instructions are that no tourist should be allowed to leave the country without producing a covid negative certificate. The manager of the resort has since been arrested.

The incident has created panic in Munnar where tourists have started vacating resorts and hotels. The district collector has ordered the closure of all resorts till March 31. The staff at the resort where the UK citizen stayed have been put under observation.

The serious lapse has forced the LDF Government to toughen the battle against the dreaded virus. Anybody found violating the health department’s instructions and guidelines will be shown no mercy. Trade and industry have come to a standstill in the State
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has issued strict instructions in this regard after an all-party meeting to discuss the serious situation. A heart-warming feature has been that all the parties have extended full support to the Government’s efforts to contain the spreads of the virus. The proclivity to politicise the battle against covid-19 has been avoided, and the blame game which had started, has, thankfully, come to an end. This is the time to stand united and not to indulge in the blame game, said Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala. That is a welcome development.

So far, 24 people are undergoing treatment in various hospitals. Over 12,00 people are under observation.

The successful outcome of the all-party meeting has infused a new energy into the Government’s efforts to tackle the situation. And Kerala has earned all-round praise, including from the Supreme Court, for the manner in which it is trying to prevent the spread of the virus.

But all the good work done by the State suffered a setback because of the irresponsible conduct of a family which returned from Italy, one of the countries to be hit hard by the dreaded virus. Nor did they fill up a form they are required to return to India from Italy.

Trouble started when a family of three arrived at the International airport in Kochi on February 29 from Italy via Doha in Qatar. They skipped the mandatory health screening at the airport. Nor did they fill up a form which they are supposed to do before leaving the airport.

This itself was extremely irresponsible conduct. What was even more shocking was that from the next day, they had been moving about and meeting relatives. The couple’s son interacted with his friends, too. It was only on Friday, March 6 – seven days after their arrival - that they informed the health workers about their travel history. And that too, after the two infected relatives, admitted to a private hospital that morning, informed doctors about their arrival from Italy.

According to Kerala’s Health Minister K K Shailaja, they were not ready to move to hospital although their relatives developed symptoms of infection. They have neglected all the directions of the health staff on the plea that they had no health issues!

The five, who belong to Ranni in Pathanamthitta district, have been isolated since Friday. The condition of the couple’s parents, aged 91 and 89, had turned serious. But now all the five are said to be stable. So far, 150 of the couple’s primary contacts have been identified. Efforts are on to locate their secondary and even tertiary contacts. The health staff are leaving nothing to chance. The immediate objective is to minimise, if not undo, the damage caused b y the irresponsible conduct of the couple who came from Italy. And they seem to be succeeding in their efforts. No word of praise is too high for their exemplary work in trying to prevent the spread of the virus.

On its part, the Kerala Government has announced several restrictions including the closure of all educational institutions and cinema halls till March 31. However, final exams of the higher classes would be held as scheduled. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has instructed that temple and church festivals which witness huge gatherings, should be avoided. But rituals can be conducted in a low key manner. Likewise, while rituals could be conducted at Sabarimala, which is set to reopen on March 13, devotees have been told to avoid gathering there. All Government-related functions have also been postponed.

Of the eight new cases reported in the State, six are primary contacts of the Italy-returned family and their son. The parents of a three-year-old boy who tested positive on Monday have also tested positive. They had reached Kochi on March 7.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister has also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking withdrawal of a circular issued b y the Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA) which said that those coming from Italy or Korea would have to furnish certificates of having tested negative for Covid-19.

Both the CM and the health Minister who are leading from the front have also warned that failure to report cases of infection will be treated as a ‘crime’. And, if necessary, the help of police would also be sought to identify those who fail to report. It is only with the total cooperation of the people that the dreaded virus can be contained.

The State Government has pulled out all the stops to tackle the scourge. This is a battle which must be won at any cost. (IPA Service)