KOCHI: A native of Ernakulam in Kerala reached Chennai by car recently to join her husband who is working in the Tamil Nadu capital. A mandatory test for interstate travellers conducted by Tamil Nadu health department found her Covid positive. To the surprise of her family members, she did not have any symptoms of the disease and she had not travelled much during the lockdown period.
In a worrying trend, Keralites arriving in Chennai have been increasingly testing positive for Covid-19 for the past one month. According to Tamil Nadu health department, 47 Keralites who arrived in Chennai in the past 30 days (from May 19) have tested positive. This indicates silent community transmission happening in Kerala which has escaped the eyes of the health department.
“Definitely, there will be asymptomatic cases in the society. The rate of random tests is very low in Kerala and, as SARS-CoV-2 is an airborne virus, the chances of infection are very high. As most of the cases are asymptomatic, it is difficult to spot. The only solution is to increase tests,” said epidemiologist A Sukumaran, who was part of the state’s integrated disease surveillance programme during the Nipah outbreak in 2018.
According to him, the chances of community transmission are high in Kerala because of the high density of population. The antibody testing is not effective in identifying Covid cases. The accuracy rate of antibody tests is less than one per cent as per the report of the Indian Council of Medical Research. At present, Kerala is not conducting RT-PCR tests on anyone without symptoms for Covid-19, except for sentinel surveillance.
The statistics show that three Keralites who arrived in Tamil Nadu by road and rail tested positive on Thursday. The number was five on Wednesday and three each on Monday and Tuesday. The first case of a Keralite testing positive on arrival in Tamil Nadu was reported on May 19. As per the protocol of Tamil Nadu government, all passengers from other states are tested for Covid-19 and they are quarantined in government-run institutions till their results come. If their test returns positive, they are moved to hospitals. If not, they can go home but have to quarantine themselves for 14 days.
Dr Padmanabha Shenoy of Kochi, who has closely followed the situation in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, said the statistics should be taken seriously. It is very difficult to trace the contact details of all persons going from the state to Tamil Nadu. He also cited the recent incident of three nurses, who left for Kuwait from Kochi airport, testing positive for Covid-19 after their arrival in the Gulf country. These clearly show that there has been silent transmission in Kerala and this may lead to community transmission.
Test must for people arriving in Tamil Nadu
As per the protocol of Tamil Nadu government, all passengers from other states are tested for Covid-19 and they are quarantined in government-run institutions till their results come. If their test returns positive, they are moved to hospitals.