KASARAGOD: The case of a Class X student who tested positive for COVID-19 has pushed the district to the brink of community transmission, if it has not already happened.
The girl, aged 15, had written two examinations after coming in contact with her infected father.
The case also brings to the fore the district administration's failure to arrange for timely tests of those who returned from abroad and quarantine them.
The district administration has gone into an overdrive since the girl was confirmed as COVID positive on Friday evening. "Now there are no route maps. We will be collecting the swabs of all those who came in contact with the girl," said District Medical Officer Dr A V Ramdas. "Today, our main job is to track down all her contacts," he said. It will be an arduous task.
The girl's father, who works in Naif -- a COVID hotbed in Dubai -- landed at Kozhikode International Airport on March 17. He cleared the thermal scanning test at the airport, took a train and reached Kanhangad railway station.
There too he cleared the thermal scanning test, said his wife, who is now in hospital, with their five-year-old son. "But I was worried because I have been seeing too many reports of corona cases from Dubai. And we have four children. I have to think of their safety too," she told Express.
So she took her husband to the District Hospital the next day (March 18). They did not take his swab because he was not showing symptoms.
They went to the hospital again on March 19. "The doctors said it will be futile to take a swab without symptoms and they sent us back again," she said.
On both these days, their daughter had her class X exams.
Her class had planned a farewell party on March 19, the day of the last examination, but aborted it because of the COVID scare.
But on March 18 and 19, she interacted with six of her close friends, said her class teacher Sadanandan T. "I have now collected their contact details and passed it on to the COVID centre," he said.
On March 20, sensing an outbreak in Naif -- a locality in the Deira side of Dubai -- collector D Sajith Babu put out an order asking all those who returned from Naif to immediately report at their nearest primary health centre (PHC) or community health centre (CHC).
So the couple went to the District Hospital again for the third time. "This time too they were inclined to send us back. But when we told the doctors that the General Hospital in Kasaragod was collecting swabs of all those who returned from Naif, they relented," she said.
In these three days, the wife had to deal with the man's rising anxiety and rising blood pressure. "He was hit by anxiety because the doctors were not testing him. And I was worried about my children too," she said.
After three days, on March 23, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced in his evening bulletin that 19 persons from Kasaragod tested positive for COVID. The father of the Class X girl was among the 19.
That was the highest number of persons confirmed positive on a single day in Kasaragod, till March 27, when 34 persons confirmed positive.
In all, the district now has 81 positive cases.
Around 9 pm on March 23, the district administration sent in four ambulances to pick the family members.
The father was been moved to the General Hospital in Kanhangad.
His wife and four children -- two sons, aged 20 and five and two daughters aged 12 and 15 -- were taken to the District Hospital.
The family kept insisting on taking the swabs and around midnight, swabs of the four children were taken. The district administration is yet to take the swab of the mother.
The family was shifted to the isolation facility in SurgiCare, a hospital in Kanhangad.
On March 28 (Friday evening), the Class X girl tested positive. The district administration shifted them to the District Hospital.
But her friends are worried. "Today morning, I got a call from the mother of my daughter's best friend. We are neighbours. She sounded worried," said the woman.
The girl's teacher Sadanandan said he identified her six friends. "But in an examination hall, there are 20 students and these six girls sat in six different halls, and they might have come in touch with several other students," he said. "All the teachers will have to put their brain together to find out the last person in this network," he said.
And then there is the possibility of these children interacting with their own circle of friends and families.
Another possible carrier is the girl's 20-year-old brother. He is a Class 12 student of a government school in Chittari. "He wrote one examination after his father returned from Naif. And he used to mingle a lot with his friends," said his mother.
She said her cousin returned from Naif on March 17, a day after her husband returned. "He was already sick in Naif and my husband was taking care of him there," she said.
But when he returned, the doctors did not take his swab. "His swab was taken only after my husband tested positive," she said.
"They should have taken my husband away as soon as he reached Kanhangad or from the airport. They should not have sent him home," said the worried wife.