Covid-19: As India touches one crore, it’s still zero cases in Lakshadweep

KOCHI: A group of students clad in black and red emerges from nowhere to perform a street play at a busy junction. The public, the aged and the young alike, gather around the group. Kids climb walls and staircases to watch the play, held to raise awareness against drug abuse. The above scene is not from the pre-Covid era but an incident on Kavaratti island a few days ago. Life is normal in Lakshadweep as the number of Covid positive cases reported from the islands till as late as Friday remains zero.

There is no compulsion there on the use of masks or social distancing. Weddings and funerals see huge gatherings on all 10 inhabited islands of Lakshadweep. There is one more major difference here compared to the rest of the country: students go to school.

Authorities on the islands say precautions and timely quarantine are the reasons Lakshadweep has stayed Covid-free. Only the islanders are allowed to travel between their islands and Kochi, that too only for emergencies. Mainlanders, on the other hand, are forbidden from travelling to the islands.


“As per present protocol, islanders who have gone to the mainland have to observe a 10-day quarantine at Kochi before being allowed to board the ship to the islands. Both paid quarantine as well as institutional quarantine have been arranged by the administration. On the seventh day, they have to undergo a Covid test. If they are negative, they are allowed to go to their home island, where they undergo a further five days of quarantine. If tested positive, they have to undergo treatment in Kochi and go through the quarantine process once again,” said an official with the Lakshadweep administration.

“We have testing facilities in at least five islands so that even if someone shows any symptoms they can be tested. I am proud to say that we are the only place in India where schools are open. Children are encouraged to wear masks and to keep proper sanitation. Otherwise, it’s a free life here,” Mohammed Faizal PP, MP from the archipelago, said.