Thiruvananthapuram: In the district where over 60 local bodies have been recording test positivity rate (TPR) above 15% for the past one week, Manickal panchayat has brought down the TPR near the golden rate of 5%.
As on Friday, TPR of Manickal panchayat was 6.85% — a figure which was considered improbable in the last week of May.
Manickal was declared as one among the critical containment zones in the district by the end of May.
TPR of the panchayat stood at an alarming 35% on May 27, however owing to the combined efforts of local residents, panchayat authorities and the health team, it dropped to below 10% and since June 5, TPR remained at 8% and now it is nearing the 5% mark which is considered the ideal TPR.
In the days following high prevalence of infection in the panchayat, the health team and the local body set out to ramp up testing.
“We were initially facing difficulties in procuring test kits.
We took it up with the district health team and once kits were arranged, we conducted massive public testing campaigns.
It wasn’t merely restricted to symptomatic or primary contacts.
Schools and junctions based testing camps recorded 200 tests on a daily basis and we could pick up and isolate many cases which would otherwise have gone unnoticed,” says Manickal panchayat secretary Jyothis V.
The medical team had promptly reported about a general unwillingness to get tested.
“At clinic, we would get around 10-15 positives a day, but to curb the spread this wasn’t enough.
We took the testing to the public and people felt encouraged to volunteer for testing.
This resulted in early detection and isolation,” says medical officer at Manickal FHC Dr Heera T S.
The panchayat also constituted rapid response teams which kept full vigil over the families where infection was reported.
“We had understood that if we could limit infection to families and in the meantime pick up our testing rate, we could significantly reduce the spread of disease.
The teams also worked well in identifying people who faced practical issues in isolation and they were shifted to care centres promptly,” adds Jyothis.
“Voluntary ward-level activities were monitored at the panchayat war room.
Each primary contact and family members were followed up on a regular basis and now the decreased TPR is there to see,” said a panchayat representative.
Manikkal panchayat has been able to bring down the TRP to 6.85% at a time when nearly 90% of local bodies report above 15% TPR.
Kuttichal is another local body in the district with TPR below 10%.
Between June 2 and 8, 759 samples were tested in the panchayat out of which 35 tested positive.
Two mobile ambulance units have also been deployed for transportation and quick hospitalization of patients to care centres.