How Erode district in TN with 70 COVID-19 cases fought it off

Erode district in Tamil Nadu, a novel coronavirus hotspot not too long ago with 70 coronavirus positive cases and one death, has now been declared COVID-19-free after the final batch of four patients admitted to Government Erode Medical College Hospital in Perundurai were discharged on Tuesday (April 28).

Erode which had seen a spurt in coronavirus cases after six Thai nationals who attended the Tablighi Jaamat congregation in Delhi, tested COVID-19 positive on March 16. The district has not reported fresh cases since April 15.

“Soon after the Thai nationals tested positive, we traced down all the 27 people who had returned from Delhi within the next two days and traced their contacts in another three days. Everybody was isolated, thus preventing the spread of the disease,” said C Kathiravan, District Collector, Erode.

Kathiravan said with the help of police, the administration managed to get the details of all the people with intra-state, inter-state and foreign travel history and traced them within a day or two after they reached their house. “So, the time they spent with their family and other people was reduced, which helped in containing the spread,” he added.

Police deserve a fair share of credit for effective contact tracing of suspected COVID-19 cases. While most of the police personnel across the state used patients’ cell tower location to trace their recent travel history, Erode Superintendent of Police Sakthi Ganesan, in addition, instructed his men to check the CCTV footage as well.

“While inquiring the patients, they may forget whom they met and would miss their names. In turn, the person would be a potential carrier of viruses. So, we went on to check for the CCTV footage,” Ganesan says.

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Isolation of primary contacts, asymptomatic people

The district administration as well as the police personnel were quick enough to isolate asymptomatic people, who were contacts of the COVID-19.

“We did not let anyone be in home quarantine. All the primary contacts and their contacts were isolated and were taken to a private college where they were institutionalised quarantined. It might have been difficult to monitor them if they were home quarantined as it could lead to spread of the virus,” said Ganesan.

On an average, the district also has done 682 tests per million population above the national average of 508 tests

Safety of frontline workers

Erode has also ensured the safety of frontline workers relentlessly fighting COVID-19 in the district. Despite being the first district to report a positive case of a 29-year-old railway’s duty doctor and her 10-month-old baby, Kathiravan ensured no other frontline workers got infected of COVID-19.

“Apart from supplying healthy food to the patients, we also supplied healthy food to the frontline workers. Also, we asked patients and frontline workers to have herbal concoction Kabasura Kudineer, which increased immunity. Thus no frontline worker in Erode got infected of COVID-19,” explains Kathiravan.

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Administration, citizens’ teamwork

Even as the other district police are still struggling to control the movement of the people amid lockdown, Erode has been successful in fighting the virus because of the vast awareness created by the police and district administration, Kathiravan said.

“Basically it was teamwork and in the team, we would include the people as well. Initially, we faced problems in dealing with the people. But, we created awareness and ensured people get their essentials in their own locality,” Ganesan says.

Before Erode, Nilgiris was the first district in Tamil Nadu to become COVID-19 free. Meanwhile, as many as 13 districts in the State have not reported any new cases in the last one week. Of the 13 districts, Theni, Kanyakumari and Ranipet have not reported any new cases over the past 10 days.

In Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore and Tirupur had reported over 100 cases. However, for the last four days, the two districts have not recorded any new cases and the total number of people tested positive for COVID-19 still stands at 141 in Coimbatore and 112 in Tirupur district.

In Coimbatore, out of the 141 people tested positive, 126 people have discharged, while in Tirupur, of the 112 people tested positive, 91 people have recovered.