Kerala: How hygiene, social distancing worked in Wayanad against Covid-19

Wayanad, a high range district in Kerala, was highly prone to the spread of Covid-19 owing to porous borders with Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

However, so far, the district has been quite effective in containing the spread of the disease. This was achieved as appropriate measures, like quarantining the possible silent carriers of the virus and surprise checks by senior police officers at quarantine centres to ensure no violation, were taken by the district administration.

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Among the active cases in the district as on July 23, only around 14% got infected through local contact transmission, while at the state level it was around 65%. While the overall tally of Covid infection through local contact in Kerala is around 50%, in Wayanad it is around 10% only. Of the nearly 85 Covid clusters identified in Kerala so far, only a small cluster was found in the district, at Thondernad.

District collector Adeela Abdullah said that the district launched random testing of at least 50 persons per day soon after lockdown was relaxed and a massive awareness drive about the importance of social distancing and hygiene was launched on various platforms.

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Interestingly, there were instances of Covid-19 patients visiting super markets, but didn’t pass on the infection. A bank manager tested positive, but none of his contacts were infected. These two instances mirror people’s strict adherence to norms like hygiene and physical distancing.

The district administration also took strict measures to safeguard around 3,300 tribal hamlets. When fresh cases were reported in a panchayat, people who frequented tribal hamlets were quarantined to avert the chances of the spread of the virus. So far, 950 people in the tribal hamlets were tested, of which only four were found to be positive. People of the tribal hamlets are also quite vigilant and prevent the entry of outsiders to the area.

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During the initial weeks of lockdown, the district police conducted regular route marches for effective enforcement.

However, Adeela feels that since the Covid scenario in Kerala is changing on a daily basis, it was too early to make any tall claims about the district’s achievements.