KOLLAM: Poor road connectivity has always been a bane of Munroe Island. At the time of the pandemic spread, panchayat officials with the help of the DYFI activists have come to the rescue of the islanders by arranging two canoes exclusively to ferry suspected COVID-19 patients and those persons coming from abroad or other states.
The traditional boats have been turned into ambulance service and they would transport the people to the hospitals in the mainland for swab testing. "Due to the lack of road connectivity between the island and mainland, especially in the wards of Kidapram South and Perungalam, the officials here have arranged two canoes that would serve as ambulance to carry only COVID-suspected persons and those in quarantine to their locations. After each service, the boat will be disinfected," said Binu Karunakaran, Munroe panchayat president.
Meanwhile, the lockdown restrictions were strictly followed by the residents here. When the lockdown was imposed across the state, the panchayat officials and the residents managed it in a commendable way. As of now, only two cases have been reported from the island. Both of them had come from abroad and were under institutional quarantine at a COVID care centre in Kollam city.
Binu said that residents in each ward are being monitored daily with the help of the volunteers by their ward members for any sign of coronavirus symptoms. However, after a resident of the island who has been undergoing treatment for COVID-19 at the MCH, Parippally, got discharged now, only one islander is under treatment currently.