Officials struggle to contain virus spread in Aluva, Chellanam clusters

Kochi: The number of Covid positive cases continues to rise in many parts of Ernakulam, outside the known clusters aggravating the fear of community transmission. Though the health department and district administration managed to contain the spread in some clusters like Ernakulam Market and Chellanam, they strain every nerve to contain the same in Aluva area.

The old age home at Thrikkakara, where 43 positive cases have been reported till Firday, officials fear, could be hotbed of more cases.

The source of infection of all the first cases in all these places are still unknown. But health officials say that the source might be from a market or harbour, where people gather in large numbers.

The first positive case in Ernakulam Market was reported on June 27. The administration closed the whole market area three days later after two more people tested positive. The strict containment lasted for 20 days, preventing the spreading of infection in Ernakulam Market. While in Aluva area, where the administration is still struggling to contain the infection, Covid-19 spreads to more areas outside the containment zones.

“In Ernakulam Market, the first case was reported in a staff of a wholesale shop, not in a retail shop, where more people come in contact with the trader. Besides, many staff in the market reside in and around the market. More importantly, no cases reported among headload workers and autorickshaw drivers in Ernakulam market. This helped prevent the spread of infection to more areas. But the case is different in Aluva, where the infection was first reported among autorickshaw drivers, headload workers, tea shop owner and retail trader, who mingle with hundreds of people every day. Those working in the Aluva market are from other neighbouring local bodies and they travel every morning to the market. A positive case in Athirappilly is connected to Aluva. Besides, the neighbouring local bodies are thickly populated furthering the infection,” says a district health official.

While in Chellanam, he said the social, physical and mental health played a part in spreading as well as preventing the fatality. “Wards 15, 16 and 17 were severely affected when the cases started to report in the first week of July. Realizing the social situation, we closed the whole panchayat and now the number of cases is coming down. Fishermen are physically and mentally strong as they venture into turbulent sea every time. Their social life contributed to spreading the infection. But their physical and mental strength saved them from fatalities. There is an 85-year-old man, family member of the first case, who is still under treatment. But he is not sick. Their diet, which mostly contains fish, also helped Chellanam natives to stay fit at this trying time. It is the mobility and difficulty in maintaining social distancing, which contributed to the spread of infection in Aluva area and Chellanam,” he says.

Though the cases reporting from clusters in Chellanam and Aluva region comprising Keezhmad are coming down, more sporadic cases are reported from every nook and corner of the district.

In view of this, health experts call for more testing, in which Ernakulam lags badly behind Thiruvananthapuram. “Not even one per cent of people in clusters are tested in Ernakulam. In Ponnani, which is under triple lockdown, around 15,000 people were tested. New Delhi managed to control the infection through mass testing, isolation and control. The state government wants to show less number of cases being reported from Kerala,” says a health expert in Ernakulam.

IMA officials say there is community spread in the district. “We have to accept the fact of community spread. At least 5,000 tests should be conducted in the district per day,” says IMA-Ernakulam chapter president Dr Junaid Rahman.