One yr of COVID-19: Kerala’s pandemic combat in tatters as second wave overpowers state

Express News Service
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An absence of politically-driven equipment and funds to make mandatory sources obtainable to comprise the aggressive second wave of Covid-19 is prone to derail the containment efforts of the state.

On Friday, the state’s well being system was stretched additional when the day by day case rely rose to 10,031, taking the whole variety of sufferers to 69,868. The check positivity price (TPR) touched 14.80%. 

According to consultants, the TPR is prone to attain new highs within the subsequent two weeks and instances are prone to double.

They say the state would require extra sources to handle the caseload. The state has determined to extend testing.

As per research, the state has already reported South African, Brazilian and cross-over strains of the coronavirus and a mass vaccination drive is the one sensible technique that might convey any distinction to the containment efforts.

However, the scarcity of vaccines goes to be a problem and therefore testing, isolation and therapy can be the one methods in entrance of the state proper now.  

Kerala Government Medical Officers Association (KGMOA) state president G S Vijayakrishnan stated the state must equip hospitals to tackle the second wave of the pandemic.

“In 2020, the state had mobilised resources through Covid Brigade and around 900 house surgeons were appointed for Covid duty. Now all these resources are unavailable. The second wave is likely to be more aggressive and a large number of cases are likely to get reported in a short span of time. So the state needs to take immediate measures to mobilise more resources for each district,” stated Vijayakrishnan.

He stated there must be extra nursing employees, medical doctors, lab technicians and sources for successfully managing the second wave.

“With stringent restrictions in place, we used our existing healthcare machinery extensively for managing the first wave, but now the non-Covid care treatment cannot be compromised. There are accident cases, non-Covid emergency care, deliveries which we need to handle,” stated Vijayakrishnan. He stated that as per tips, there isn’t any want of a health care provider throughout vaccination drives.

“The state needs to use the existing resources judiciously to tide over the second wave. Currently, we are using doctors for swab collection which could be easily done by paramedical staff,” stated Vijayakrishnan.

‘Fund crunch prime reason for failure of Covid Brigade’

The state is planning to vaccinate round 1.1 crore inhabitants within the state.

“We have covered a little more than 35% of the actual target and vaccination needs to be continued in full swing. Every public healthcare institution is vaccinating 100 to 300 beneficiaries daily. We need an average of 50 to 100 doctors and associated healthcare staff in every district,” Vijayakrishnan added.

A senior well being official stated fund crunch is the prime motive for the failure of Covid Brigade initiative.

“The state is expected to hit the peak in the coming two weeks and it’s high time the state took measures to recruit more healthcare staff to manage the caseload. There is no politically-driven machinery and by the time the new government takes charge, the worst part of the pandemic second wave would be over. We need funds to mobilise resources immediately,” stated the official.

Santhosh Kumar S S, Deputy Superintendent (Emergency Medicine), Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital, stated that making vaccines obtainable no matter age bar is the important thing to outlive the aggressive second wave.

“We need more vaccine doses and there is a need to vaccinate a large number of the population in a brief period to curb the severity of the pandemic,” stated Santhosh Kumar.  

He stated the state ought to impose restrictions extra scientifically than meaninglessly.

“The aim should be to curb superspreader events rather than bringing in time restrictions. There is no point in imposing 9 pm curfews. Instead, the machinery should focus on curbing mass events like marriages, funeral gatherings and other similar events,” he added.