Comments
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan left for the US early this morning for medical treatment, after rescue and relief efforts following the recent floods postponed the trip, originally scheduled for August 19.
The Chief Minister is headed for the reputed Mayo Clinic in the US for three weeks, for an as yet undisclosed ailment.
NO STAND-IN CM
The Chief Minister was originally booked to fly from Thiruvananthapuram tomorrow, but chose to fly out a day earlier, with only a few in the state administration privy to the development, sources said.
Earlier, on Saturday, he briefed Governor P Sathasivam about his trip, and updated him on the status of relief operations, and plans for rehabilitation of hundreds of thousands of flood victims.
The Chief Minister has not appointed a person in charge of his office. During his stay in the US, he would be able to check electronic files and take decisions on routine administrative matters.
Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan, who has been restored as his second-in-command, would address Cabinet meetings and also officially receive contributions to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund.
The Chief Minister's trip, which was unavoidable according to sources, has come at a time when the state is fighting a potential public health challenge in the form of a leptospirosis (rat fever) outbreak.
A high alert has been sounded for the water-borne disease, which claimed 28 lives in August, with suspected cases being reported from Kozhikode, Palakkad, Thrissur, Malappuram and Ernakulam districts.
FOLLOWS NIPAH SCARE
A zoonotic disease (that transmits from animals to humans), rat fever propagates fast in rain/ floods as urine from infected rats or other rodents contaminates water, affecting human beings easily.
This is the second major public health scare after the Nipah virus attack in June that took 17 lives, with the vulnerable Kozhikode district reporting 60 cases with symptoms of leptospirosis. The symptoms include high fever, headache, chills, abdominal pain, and rashes, with the aged and those suffering from kidney or liver ailments being soft targets.
Health officials have asked people in the flood-hit areas and those engaged in the clean-up operations to take two 100 mg doxycyline tablets after food twice a week.
In Kozhikode, excise minister TP Ramakrishnan popped a doxycyline tablet during a press conference on Saturday, urging people to take adequate precautions.
“We are keeping utmost vigil," health minister K.K. Shailaja said. "All flood-hit people and relief workers have been advised to take enough precautions. The Union Health Ministry has promised us all help.”
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.