THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It's past midnight on January 30 and a high-level meeting is in progress at the Thrissur Government Medical College. Chairing the meeting is a 63-year-old woman who is the health minister of the state. The meeting has been convened against the backdrop of the confirmation of the first positive case of the novel coronavirus (nCoV) in the country in Thrissur in Kerala.
In the days that follow, two more positive cases are reported from Alappuzha and Kasaragod. But like a seasoned captain who steers the ship through a storm, the health minister KK Shailaja is leading the state's response to the viral outbreak with a combination of tough-mindedness and tender-heartedness.
For Shailaja, containing the nCoV is just another challenge in her current stint as health minister. She had the experience of marshalling her troops during the floods and the Nipah virus outbreak which had struck the state twice, in 2018 and 2019.
"She is a tough taskmaster. It doesn't matter if it's midnight or if she is having any ailments, the minister is there to monitor every arrangement. In the case of nCoV prevention and control, the minister is leading from the front by convening assessment meetings daily," said an officer of the health department.
The officer pointed out that from surveillance to aspects like early detection, isolation and case management, contact tracing and prevention of onward spread, the minister is there to oversee all activities. This has reaped dividends as the three cases which turned out to be positive were in people who were quarantined by the health department as soon as it came to know about their arrival from Wuhan in China, which is the epicentre of the outbreak.
During one of her press briefings, Shailaja said, "The state is expecting more positive cases of nCoV. But that doesn't mean people have to start panicking. The state's surveillance protocol is one of the best. Also, it has been decided to put in place a three-pronged strategy for nCoV containment - ensuring the health of those who had returned from Wuhan, ensuring zero nCoV death and ensuring non-outbreak of nCoV among the public."
At the same time, sources say that the professional stance taken by the state health department in times of health emergencies like Nipah and nCoV is because of Shailaja.
"Before entering into politics, she was a science teacher at Sivapuram High School in Kannur. This science background helped her understand the complexities and terminologies involved in viral outbreaks better. Also, she gives a patient hearing to experts in the field," said a member of her ministerial staff.
Corroborating this, former state health secretary Rajeev Sadanandan said, "Be it times of distress or normal grievances, she tries to identify herself with the common man. The other major quality is giving space to technical people to carry out their work without any political interference. The high level of integrity that she posses is another remarkable feature."
The other day, the minister said that as those who are under home and hospital quarantine due to nCoV are suffering from stress, anxiety and stigma, it has been decided to provide them with psychological support under the mental health programme. For this, 191 counsellors have been employed and to date, they have provided counselling to 1,043 people.
She also stepped in to address the 'infodemic' phenomenon that accompanies any public health emergency. Infodemic refers to the overabundance of information - some accurate and some not - that is circulated on social media. To plug this, other than initiating legal action against rumourmongers, the health department also started to provide accurate information regarding nCov to bust the myths.
The state at present has put 2,421 people who arrived from nCoV notified places under isolation. Of them, 2,321 are in home isolation and 100 are in hospital isolation. So far, three positive cases have been reported from Thrissur, Alappuzha and Kasaragod. All the positive cases are medical students who studied in Wuhan and are known to each other.
Timeline
As soon as the Union Health Ministry issued an alert against nCoV on January 17, the state health department began surveillance measures
The lessons learnt while dealing with the Nipah virus outbreak were drawn upon by the department
On January 18, the department commenced its nCov preventive and control measures including that of alerting the District Medical Offices to look out for symptomatic persons
On January 30, the first positive case of nCoV in the country was reported from Kerala
The positive case was confirmed in a medical student who was in isolation at Thrissur general hospital
On February 2, the second positive case was reported from Alappuzha
In the second case too, the student was in isolation at a hospital
The third positive case was reported from Kasaragod on February 3
nCov was confirmed in a student who was in isolation at a hospital in Kasaragod
The government declared nCoV a state-specific disaster
Union health secretary Preeti Sudan, while praising the nCoV surveillance protocol of Kerala, asked other states and union territories to take a leaf out of their book.