Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan directed his health minister K.K. Shailaja Teacher to monitor the situation closely.
The Right Path: CM Pinarayi Vijayan
Kerala
Pinarayi Vijayan
Soon after the COVID-19 outbreak was reported from Wuhan, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan directed his health minister K.K. Shailaja Teacher to monitor the situation closely. On January 23, Vijayan constituted a 40-member core group headed by Shailaja and a crisis management group headed by principal secretary (health), Dr Rajan Khobragade. Another group tracked down and contacted those who had returned from Wuhan by January 25. Task forces headed by the district collectors were formed in 14 districts to support the medical professionals.
In the past four years, the Left Front government has spent more than Rs 5,000 crore to improve the delivery systems of public health institutions, which has played a huge role in preventing the community spread of the virus. The CM has also been motivating healthcare personnel; he even wrote to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to look after the interests of the Malayali nurses in the capital.
Even before the national lockdown, Pinarayi had announced an economic relief package of Rs 20,000 crore. Since then, his government has been providing food through 14,000 community kitchens; and shelter to around 300,000 migrant workers. The homeless have been shifted to camps where they get free meals and medical care.
