COVID, flood and monsoon illnesses: Myriad challenges lie forward for Kerala
3 min read
Express News Service
KOCHI: A COVID unfold that claims round 100 lives a day, excessive heavy rainfall that’s posing a risk of flood and possibilities of monsoon illnesses. It is an uncommon scenario and Kerala is dealing with myriad challenges lately.
The heavy rain that has been lashing the state for the previous two days has triggered fears of a flood and lots of have taken shelter at reduction camps as low-lying areas have been inundated.
Huge tidal waves rising to greater than one-metre top have been lashing the shores forcing the coastal populace to shift to safer locations.The water degree in rivers is rising and there’s a probability of flooding in coastal areas because the flood water is not draining into the ocean as a result of storm surge.
Though the most important dams have reached solely 30 per cent of their storage capability, the scenario could change if the rain continues unabated within the excessive ranges for greater than three days.
Kerala reported solely 57 recent circumstances of COVID and had a caseload of 1,326 throughout the onset of monsoon on June 1, 2020. A yr on, the scenario is completely totally different, with round 40,000 new circumstances including a day and the take a look at positivity charge standing near 30 per cent.
If the reduction camps get crowded, will probably be a frightening job for the COVID frontline warriors to cease the pandemic unfold. The healthcare sector has been stretched past limits and if steps will not be taken to curb an outbreak of monsoon illnesses, the scenario may be difficult.
“It is a tricky situation. The health department has been exhausted due to the COVID fight and there is a need to recruit more doctors and nurses to fight the monsoon diseases. The dengue fever shows a four-five-year cycle and the chances of an outbreak is very high,” mentioned Kerala Government Medical Officers Association president Dr GS Vijayakrishnan.
“As the frontline workers are deployed on COVID duty, social workers, NGOs and political parties should come forward to launch the pre-monsoon cleaning drive. We should voluntarily observe dry days every week,” he added.
However, Kerala COVID Expert Committee chairman Dr B Iqbal says there isn’t a must panic as there is a silver lining. “We expect a gradual decline in Covid cases. The effects of the lockdown will be visible from next week. And we are not much concerned about vector-borne diseases as there has been a decline due to the Covid restrictions. As the people are wearing masks and observing social distancing, we don’t expect an outbreak of monsoon diseases. Besides, there has been a drop in pollution levels also,” he mentioned.
Dr Iqbal mentioned that Kerala will likely be concentrating on giving the primary dose of Covid vaccine to the utmost variety of folks as latest research have revealed that the primary dose itself present immunity. “The second dose can be taken after four months,” he mentioned.
“Due to the lockdown, there has been a drop in the number of fresh cases and the discharge rate has also increased. Steps will be taken to curb chances of COVID spread in relief camps. The local bodies and volunteers will be actively involved in pre-monsoon cleaning and relief activities in the coming days,” he mentioned.
Kerala State Disaster Management Authority member secretary Sekhar L Kuriakose additionally maintained that managing the monsoon illnesses won’t be a problem.
“The government has identified an adequate number of assets to meet any situation. The shortage of staff in the health department has been managed by recruiting more people. There has been a drop in lifestyle diseases due to the COVID protocol. The KSDMA has given instructions to follow the Orange Book guidelines to curb spread of COVID at flood relief camps,” he mentioned.
