THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Worrying signs of Covid-19 transmission are emanating from the coastal belt of the state. The situation has led to a demand to replicate the prevention and control strategy rolled out at Dharavi in Mumbai along the 590 km coastline spreading across nine districts.
It is being pointed out that as there is much in common between Dharavi and the coastal hamlets of the state and that the health department should roll out the same strategy that was successfully implemented there which focuses on community engagement.
“The coastal hamlets in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Malappuram have now become vulnerable to Covid-19 and staring at a wider spread. The decision now is to further bolster the existing prevention and control strategy in these areas. But if needed, a change in strategy will be initiated considering the socio-economic background of the fisherfolk,” said a health department officer. According to him, the Dharavi model, which has come in for praise from the WHO, is worth emulating.
“There is much in common between Dharavi and the coastal areas of the state. Both are densely populated. There are also practical difficulties in implementing home isolation in both areas. The key will be to build trust and ensure community participation by bringing together religious, political and trade union leaders, representatives of fishermen, officials of various departments and others,” added the officer.
The much-praised Dharavi model is based on four Ts -- tracing, tracking, testing and treating. The strategy of chasing the virus adopted by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is also notable as a public-private partnership was ensured for large-scale screening.
E Sreekumar, chief scientific officer, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, said, “The coastal belt of the state is well connected. The people living there mingle with each other a lot in one way or the other. Already, some sparks of infection transmission have been reported from some hamlets. Before these become a wildfire, special strategies are needed. One such strategy that could be implemented is to seal the coastal belt.”
By doing so, mingling of fisher community at one place with that of another and with that of the urban/rural population could be avoided, he said. The authorities should set up Covid treatment centres in the coastal areas and adopt a strategy of only shifting critical patients outside a particular coastal area, he added. The state fisheries minister’s office said while it has been decided to further intensify the prevention and control activities in the coastal areas, a plan is also there to shift children, senior citizens and immunocompromised persons to institutional quarantine facilities.