IDUKKI: Edamalakkudy in Munnar forest division was the only tribal settlement in Idukki that largely remained insulated from Covid infection in the first wave. However, the situation has changed in the second wave now. Two tribal people belonging to the Muthuvan settlement tested positive on Tuesday.
A 40-year-old woman from Iruppukallukudi and a 24-year-old man from Edalippara, two among the 26 hamlets in the settlement, have tested Covid positive. The woman was found infected in a test conducted prior to a surgery at the Kottayam Medical College Hospital, while the infection in the latter was found in an antigen test conducted at a hospital in Munnar.
When TNIE contacted a faculty member at Edamalakkudy Government LP School, who was transferred from the school this June after nearly eight years of service, he suspected that the infection might have been brought in by some residents who ventured into the town or from public representatives or government officials who visited the settlement
“The tribal people belonging to Iruppukallukudi usually go to Valparai in Tamil Nadu through a forest path to buy groceries. Meanwhile, those belonging to Edalippara visit Pettimudi, a tea workers’ settlement near Munnar where the massive landslide happened last year, to buy essentials. Hence, the tribes are not completely staying away from outside contact,” said faculty member Sudheesh S.
The tribal people in Edamalakkudy follow a self-quarantine system, which was a decision taken in the ‘Oorukoottam’, the tribal people’s meeting, held last year. “As per the advice given by the health authority when the pandemic began spreading in the state, the tribals decided that any person who went out of the settlement should stay in seven-day quarantine before entering the ‘kudis’,” he said. Apart from police officials who visited Iruppukallukudi for nabbing a culprit who accidentally shot another tribal man dead, vlogger Sujith Bhakthan along with Idukki MP Dean Kuriakose had also visited the settlement for providing TV sets for the children’s education on June 27.
Reacting to the allegation that his visit could have led to Covid infection in the tribal settlement, Dean said he did not have Covid infection at the time of the visit. They went to the settlement with the permission of the forest department. At the same time, the woman who was found infected had gone to Tamil Nadu and the infected man had been in Munnar town for days in connection with his wife’s medical treatment recently, he added. Though TNIE tried to contact the district medical officer, she was unavailable to comment on the development.