The Bharatiya Janata Party government in Madhya Pradesh has decided to adopt Kerala’s model to contain the novel coronavirus spread in the state as the COVID-19 tally breached the 7,000-mark.
As per a report by The Economic Times, MP Health Commissioner Faiz Ahmed Kidwai has directed all district chiefs to follow Kerala’s strategy as the state has successfully contained the spread of the deadly pathogen, registering only seven deaths in the past months.
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In a letter issued to all DMs and chief medical officers on May 27, the health commissioner wrote: “In India, the Kerala model has been considered the most suitable (to tackle COVID-19) and they have followed WHO’s protocol of test, trace, isolate, and support to form and implement a strategy. While the first case was detected in Kerala in January, till May 25 only 896 cases have been found in the entire state of Kerala.”
As against this, MP has reported nearly 7,300 cases as of May 29, and registered 313 deaths. Apart from the worrying figures, the influx of homebound migrants has also made it imperative for the state’s administration to identify, isolate, test, and treat coronavirus patients.
It is important that the chain of novel coronavirus transmission is broken at the earliest in the rural reaches, as 1.38 million migrants have returned to their natives since the lockdown was imposed. MP has reported 321 deaths while Kerala has seen only seven deaths.
In his letter, Kidwai has highlighted 13 action points, which included free treatment for all COVID-19 patients and provide the drug hydroxychloroquine for free to all frontline health workers.
It further highlighted that 78 percent residents of Madhya Pradesh are covered under Ayushman Bharat Scheme, which entitles them to avail free treatment at private hospitals that are listed under the government plan.
Right now, efforts are being made to empanel all private hospitals under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme. The remaining persons may seek free treatment either at government hospitals or at the private hospitals which have entered into an agreement with the state to provide free treatment.
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