UK Magazine Ranks K.K. Shailaja As “Top Thinker of 2025”- New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern Ranks Second

A British Magazine by the name of “Prospect” conducted a poll and ranked Kerala’s health minister as number one out of a list of “50 top thinkers of 2025”. The magazine featured scientists, philosophers, intellectuals, writers, artists, and more. The final list was decided by readers and a panel of experts and editors. The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern ranked second on the list. K.K. Shailaja is the only Indian to make it on the list this year. Here’s how the teacher turned politician has been making all the right decisions for the health and well-being of her state (1):

Strategic Implementation

The reason why the magazine ranked K. K. Shailaja so highly was that they recognized her ability to not only catch information about the virus before it reached our shores but warn and equip her state’s doctors against the virus. After all, this isn’t the first time Kerala has dealt with a zoonotic disease. The state had an outbreak of the deadly Nipah virus in the year 2018. Although 17 of the 19 people who were infected did not survive the disease, scientists, and doctors managed to save two patients. Kerala was able to localize the infection and not let any afflicted with it escape state lines and knowingly or unknowingly spread it to other states.

As information about the virus started making rounds in China around January, K.K. Shailaja was in touch with a few students from Kerala who were studying in Wuhan. This is how she was able to strategically isolate them and ensure they were quarantined and were able to recover from the virus with the privacy they deserved. In fact, many initial coronavirus patients in Kerala started recording their stays in quarantine centers to encourage others who might be affected to come forward and get tested and let them know it is safe (2).

Start To Finish

Those arriving from other countries were kept under strict home quarantine or at quarantine centers. People were encouraged to stay indoors and practice social distancing as much as possible. K. K. Shailaja followed the strategy encouraged by the WHO which is, “test, trace, and isolate”. She was earlier praised by UK based newspaper, The Guardian who called her the “coronavirus slayer” due to her strategic implementation of all the right rules and management skills to curb the infection rate of the state’s economy. Fondly known as Shailaja teacher, she had even managed to flatten the curve of the state for a very long period of time.

On the 24th of June, K. K. Shailaja was honored by the UN for her outstanding work in fighting off the pandemic. On the occasion of United Nations Public Service Day, she was among the several leaders who were invited to address the audience. She was the only speaker from India and spoke about the various strategies she implemented to curb the spread of the virus (3).

Kerala’s Power

Kerala is known to have the highest literacy rate in the country for a reason. Besides having the highest literacy rate, the state also knew how to handle an outbreak after dealing with the Nipah virus. K. K. Sailaja started by screening and testing every passenger who arrived from China and Italy, where COVID had spread rapidly. The first Coronavirus case was reported in Thrissur on the 30th of January. There were three Keralite students studying in Wuhan who were quarantined on arrival. After the students recovered from the virus, there were no noted rises in the month of February and the next cluster of cases hit the state on the 9th of March.

However, as the pandemic has moved forward, Kerala’s infection numbers have also caught up with the rest of the country. However, the death rate in the state still remains quite low in comparison to other states. As of now, there have been fewer than 350 registered deaths in the state due to the virus. Considering that Kerala had one of the highest percentages of NRI expats who wanted to come home, it was pretty incredible how the state managed to control the spread of the virus.

How India Ranks On The World Charts

As of today, India has overtaken Brazil in the most number of coronavirus cases registered. There are about 42.04 lakh registered cases of the infection in the country. The country hit a record daily spike of 90,000 cases in one day and as of now, and there are about 8.82 lakh known cases. India, however, has a fairly decent recovery rate of 77%. The United States of America is the only known country with more cases than India and they have registered about 20 lakh more cases than India.

The sad reality is that we might most likely surpass the USA very soon. According to data submitted by the WHO, India has been registering the highest number of single-day spikes consistently for around a month. The states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh have been asked to take aggressive measures to control the spread of the virus. After the USA and India, Brazil, Russia, and Peru have the most number of recorded coronavirus cases (4).

As far as possible, the only thing we can do as ordinary citizens is to take all the necessary precautions and wait for the vaccine to be mass released. Practice social distancing as much as possible and avoid public spaces. Do you agree with this article? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Niharika NayakBA (Media & Communication)

 

Niharika has a passion for all things art, music, and travel and has over 4 years of experience in writing for social media. During her spare time, she likes experimenting in the kitchen, playing video games, and hanging out with stray animals.

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