Naif link seems to be reason for disproportionate COVID-19 in Kasargod

Even as the number of emigrants from Kasargod in much less compared to other districts in Kerala, when it comes to COVID-19 Kasargod is much ahead of all the districts. Links with Naif in Dubai seems to be the key reason for this.

Out of the 215 COVID-19 positive cases in Kerala now, 108 are Kasargod natives, which is way ahead of any other district. As per a study on emigrants from Kerala in 2018, Kasargod was only in the eleventh position compared to other districts in terms of number of emigrants.

According to sources in Kasargod district administration, among the 108 COVID-19 infected persons hailing from the district, around 75 were having Naif links.

Kasargod MLA N A Nellikunnu said that a major chunk of emigrants from the district were traders based at Naif in Dubai, which is one of the hotspots of COVID-19. This seems to be the obvious reason for the disproportionately higher number of Covid-19 infected NRIs in Kasargod compared to other districts. The traders of Kasargod also used to frequently travel between for trading purposes.

For latest updates on coronavirus outbreak, click here

A representative of an Indian association in Dubai said that traders from many countries like China and Iran used to have links with Naif and Kasargod natives constitute the major chunk of traders in the locality. Moreover, since most of the Kasargod natives in Naif were running own shops, they could have shut shops immediately when the COVID-19 alerts came and returned to Kerala. These could be the reason why Kasargod natives are higher in numbers in terms of COVID-19 infection, said the person who preferred not to be quoted.

Ever since the COVID-19 cases started reporting in Kasargod, the district administration had urged that all persons who recently came down from Naif area should remain on isolation and seek medical aid. A large chunk of NRI's in Kasargod used to travel through Mangaluru airport.