As the capital city turns into the nerve centre of the State government’s efforts to stem the outbreak of COVID-19, many people and organisations are reaching out in several ways to strengthen the authorities’ efforts to break the chain and stop the spread of the virus. MetroPlus takes a look at how various sectors and people in Kerala are pitching in to help...
It’s all chemistry
The Coronavirus outbreak has led to a severe shortage of hand sanitisers with bottles flying off shelves from medical stores and supermarkets. That’s when several institutions chipped in with guidelines about making sanitisers at home and also manufacturing them in limited quantities. Among them are the Departments of Chemistry at St Xavier’s College, Government College for Women and All Saints’ College in the capital city and research scholars of the Department of Applied Chemistry, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), Kochi. The faculty of St Xavier’s released a two-minute video last week on how to make sanitisers at home. On March 17, the college distributed five litres of the solution free of cost to 200 families in Fathimapuram near the college, a village that has been adopted by the institution for its extension activities. The teachers also plan to give training to more people.
Research scholars of Department of Applied Chemistry, Cochin University of Science and Technology packing the hand sanitisers
The CUSAT team has already distributed the sanitisers across different departments and to the residents of a colony near the campus for free. Initially they made 1,000 bottles of 100 ml each and another 1,000 bottles is getting ready. “Sanitisers have to be prepared as per the guidelines of the World Health Organisation. The alcohol content should be at least 60%. And one has to scrub your hands with the hand sanitiser for at least 20 seconds to get the desired result,” explains Dr N Sulphi, vice-president, Indian Medical Association Kerala. The alcohol destroys the protein that envelopes the virus thereby destroying it, adds K Girish Kumar, professor and head, Department of Applied Chemistry, CUSAT.
Although the components can vary, an integral component is isopropyl alcohol (IPA). Glycerine/glycerol, hydrogen peroxide, any essential oil and aloe vera gel are among other ingredients. “Hydrogen peroxide kills the germs in the bottle in which the sanitiser is packed. Glycerine helps to prevent the alcohol from evaporating easily,” explains Girish Kumar.
Divya Thomas, assistant professor at St Xavier’s, adds that the aloe vera gel is used for moisturising. Vitamin E tablet is an optional component in their sanitiser that has IPA, aloe vera gel, glycerine, essential oil and Vitamin E. “The video was first shared in the staff group of the college that has 53 members. From there it was shared by the teachers to their personal contacts. We were surprised by the reach of the video,” Divya says. At CUSAT, 60 research scholars worked in shifts to prepare the solution and pack it in bottles.
Food from home
Concerns over the spread of COVID-19 have forced several hotels and restaurants to shut down temporarily and people are now turning to home cooks in the city. Although they admit that business has been dull with regular customers backing out and cancellation of bulk orders, they are also getting new clients.
“I now have customers who ask for only curries for lunch, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. I am also getting orders for snacks and cakes, especially from small groups in offices. Also, most customers now want to come and collect the food instead of depending on our delivery boys because they are wary about the precautions taken by them,” says Priya Kolassery.
Swapna Rakesh, another home cook, has made it mandatory for customers to collect the food. “I have done away with delivery boys who used to hand over the food to several offices in the Secretariat and a few banks. Now, if the employees in these offices place a bulk order, one person would have to come and take the food from my place,” says Swapna.
Home cooks Deepika NK, Nisha Kiran and Najiya Ershad, however, have not done away with the home delivery service. “We ensure that the staff wear masks and take necessary precautions. I have closed our takeaway counter and the food is supplied from my home at Kuravankonam so that I can ensure that the food is served hygienically,” says Deepika. Nisha points out that her tiffin service that caters to senior citizens has not been affected. “I haven’t stopped the home delivery because many of the senior citizens may not be in a position to come and collect the food,” she says.
According to Najiya, many of her customers want home delivery as they are reluctant to step out. “I have also extended the time to take orders from 9 am to 11 am to accommodate new clients. My delivery staffers have their hands full. But they say that they don’t have to deal with traffic blocks as there aren’t many vehicles on the road now,” she adds.
At your doorsteps
With people opting to shop from home, supermarkets and grocery shops have upped their home delivery service and online shopping portals are running in full steam. Big Bazaar, Spencers, Ramachandran, More and Kunnil are among the stores that are offering home delivery service. “We have gone all out in promoting our home delivery services. There has been a surge in demand since people are worried whether the items would run out in the coming days,” says Padmakumar G manager of home delivery section at Ramachandran. Small-scale enterprises and wholesale shops have also announced home delivery options. Mohammed Fazi of MKS Store in Palayam market says that even though they used to supply goods to homes earlier that was never done on a big scale. “Business has been dull and so this is an option to keep it afloat,” he says.
Delivery staffers of AM Needs
As for online shopping portals, there has been 100% growth in business with the expansion of their customer base. Shaman Hanif of kada.in says that the orders have gone up by several folds over the last one week. “Normally we get 40-50 orders a day. It crossed 150 recently and we were forced to close the service for a day. Our skeletal delivery staff is finding it difficult to manage the rush. Since people are stocking rice, sugar and other grocery items in bulk we have to ensure that there is adequate quantity with us,” he says.
Sujith Sudhakaran, founder of AM Needs, which deliver essentials in the morning, says that since they are supplying perishable goods such as milk and dairy products, vegetables and bread there is a steady clientèle on all days. “Customers have no direct contact with our delivery staff who take precautions when they are out on the field. We have 70 staff in the city. Also, many customers now opt for subscription mode in our app so that they get a steady supply of the products,” he adds. Meanwhile, they also have plans to include masks and hand sanitisers in the product list as soon as they are able to procure the same.
Help at hand
“Can I get a cup of tea?” That was the first thing a woman asked when Mathew Jacob and his team got in touch with her. She hadn’t stepped out of her house since she returned from Europe and was all alone in her house. Supplies had run out and she had no clue how to go about it. That was when she came across a Facebook post from Mathew saying that if ‘any elderly people, family with kids or anyone in quarantine need help with groceries, medications etc can reach out to us @ 9846422220’. “As soon as we got her message, we provided her food and essential commodities. Since she sounded depressed, we informed the District Collectorate about her condition. Later, we learnt that she was provided vegetables by the Medical College police as well,” says Mathew, who runs Seed Holidays and Events, a travel and event management company at Pattoor. “Since our business has slumped because of the outbreak, we thought of doing something useful for society,” he says.
Mathew Jacob
Mathew adds that ever since he put up the post, people have been coming forward to volunteer as well. “Our aim was to create a network of volunteers and we are getting a lot of support. However, we also want them to take necessary precautions, such as using sanitisers and avoiding contact with the people they are helping,” he says.
Alive, the ageing solutions company for the elderly, has opened a helpline number to help senior citizens. “Since they are forced to stay indoors because of the current situation, they can call us for assistance. We can arrange medical assistance and can even help them with bank transactions,” says TK Rekha, director, Alive store at Kowdiar. Contact: 7025266605
