Communist-run Kerala has been successfully tackling Covid-19 thanks to a strong health service and clear communication<\/p>\n
In early March the alarm bells hadn\u2019t started ringing yet in India: a country with only six confirmed Covid-19 cases, three of them in Kerala. But within a few weeks the nationwide number had increased to 17,000, with cities including Mumbai showing thousands of cases and several hospitals shutting down<\/a> in panic. Over the same time, Kerala \u2013 a relatively prosperous state on the southern tip of the subcontinent \u2013 would start to \u201cflatten the curve\u201d. The \u201cKerala model\u201d is already being held up<\/a> around the world as a success story. How did it do it?<\/p>\n First, Kerala started from a strong baseline. Its socioeconomic development is an example of what investments in human capital can do for poverty reduction and prosperity. It has vastly higher literacy rates<\/a> and better health outcomes than the rest of India; the state has long been a Communist party stronghold, although its policies remain moderately social-democratic. Some of its strengths are also weaknesses: skilled workers are the state\u2019s major export \u2013 it receives more remittances from abroad <\/a>than anywhere else in India, much of which comes from the Middle East \u2013 and it is a large tourism hub. These are two factors that expose its inhabitants to a greater risk of transmission. <\/p>\n