Do not panic, but be alert. This seems to be the message the Health Department is sending across as it is battling yet another public health emergency in the form of the novel coronavirus infection.
Sources in the department said the number of deaths owing to the infection was much lesser compared to the Nipah infection, which the State successfully contained earlier. With the first case being reported in Thrissur, the effort now is to ensure that the infection does not spread to more people.
Tracing mechanism
To do so, the department is learnt to have put in place a tracing mechanism to identify people who may have been in contact with the patient. The protocol developed during the Nipah outbreak in 2018 is reported to have come in handy.
Anybody with a travel history to China and countries such as Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Cambodia, Thailand, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates, from where subsequent cases were reported, has to contact the health authorities. If they have fever, cold, cough, sore throat, and breathing problems, they may have to be under observation.
Surveillance at home
Even if they do not have these symptoms, such people will have to be under surveillance at home as a precautionary measure, officials said. Ground-level health staff have been asked to be in touch with these people over the phone daily for at least 28 days. They will be transported by specially designated ambulances to the hospitals identified by the department for coronavirus treatment if they develop symptoms.
Special isolation wards have been set up at government general hospitals and medical college hospitals and a few private hospitals in each district.
P.S. Jinesh, co-founder and admin of Infoclinic, a group of doctors active on social media, meanwhile, refuted the claim that homoeopathy and AYUSH streams of medicines could cure coronavirus infection. He pointed out that such claims had not been scientifically proven as yet.
Doctors’ advice
Doctors, however, said that anyone with fever and cold need not seek medical treatment. According to them, only those with a travel history to the above-mentioned countries or those who may have been in contact with them need to be careful. But, it will be better for those with fever and other diseases to avoid attending public events.
Such people also need to avoid courtesy visits to hospitals to thwart chances of hospital-acquired infection. They need to also stop travelling by public transport. Senior officials are also urging people not to fall for false information on the infection being spread through social media.
Some people have also begun a campaign to boycott Chinese products, which has no scientific base.
