THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Life has been going on smoothly for Akin Raj Antony in the UAE before his private money exchange firm started facing financial issues suddenly. Adding to it, the Arab nation started reporting Covid-19 cases. Akin and his colleagues, who dealt mostly with expatriates daily, started feeling the heat. And the 38-year-old returned to Kerala on March 6. But he encountered an even worse situation in his native Aranattukara in Thrissur.
Most people in his neighbourhood, some relatives and friends even, seemed to keep him at arm’s length despite him telling them that he had no health issues. Things took a turn for the worse last Sunday when a police jeep stopped in front of his house. The officers had come chasing a group of ganja sellers, but people of his native started spreading stories that Akin has Covid-19. His mother too was stopped on her way back from church and asked about Akin’s condition.
Akin’s is not an isolated case. Many of the Gulf-returnees are being ostracised by society. Unnikrishnan V, who recently came from Qatar, found it so disappointing that he asked his friends and colleagues in Doha to avoid visiting the state now. “There’s a trust deficit,” he said.
Experts feel society’s behaviour could become worse if the number of infected people based abroad goes up and they all return to the state. The state is already chalking out a plan to convert vacant buildings and unused facilities into mass isolation wards, but they need to be equipped well and self-sufficient as the patients are sure to face public’s apathy.
State’s Nodal Officer for Public Health Emergencies (Corona & H1N1) Dr Amar Fettle told TNIE that the district collectors have been told to ensure proper power connection at all these facilities and keep water and essential items ready. In Thriuvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Kannur districts, the authorities are looking for spaces close to the airports so that the infected could be moved in there without much delay.
MCH uses HIV medicines to treat UK national
Kochi: Doctors at Ernakulam Medical College Hospital (MCH), Kalamassery, have started using HIV medicines like Ritonavir and lopinavir in treating Covid-19 since Wednesday. The medicines were given to UK national who was admitted to the hospital’s isolation ward on Sunday. “The two antiretroviral medicines were used in Jaipur for the first time in the country,” said Dr Thomas Mathew, principal of the MCH who is heading the team treating the patient.
Mohanan Vaidyar held for fake cure claim
Thrissur: A team of health officials raided the natural healing centre at Pattikkad on Wednesday, following a social media post that self-styled medical practitioner Mohanan Vaidyar will consult people and provide remedies for Covid-19. Vaidyar was arrested for spreading false information.