Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected more Indians than any other community in Kuwait. The disproportionate spread of COVID-19 among community members created food insecurities, especially among low-income families. With lockdowns being imposed in the country, the crisis worsened and hundreds of Indian families were deprived of their livelihood.
The Indian Dentists’ Alliance in Kuwait (IDAK), a fellowship of Indian dentists residing in Kuwait that has always been at the forefront of community service, initiated massive efforts to provide relief to those affected and assisted the Ministry of Health (MoH) in containing the disease.
IDAK launched the supply of cooked and dry rations to families that were most affected. Food packets, each with 5kg rice, 2 liter oil, 1kg sugar, 5kg Flour, 2kg pulses, 2kg onions and 2kg potatoes were distributed to over 2,600 families. “Several families that were already in poor economic straits found their situation worsened by the pandemic,” said IDAK President Dr. Rajesh Alexander.
IDAK began its full-fledged relief efforts in mid-April, before the lockdown was imposed. Supplies were distributed mainly among taxi drivers, maids, barbers and other marginal workers, whose livelihood were greatly affected by the pandemic. Most of them had no source of income and were struggling to arrange food and other necessary provisions “We could not help but get involved in providing assistance to these families,” said Dr. Alexander.
As the pandemic spread rapidly, many of the quarantine centers were soon overwhelmed and IDAK was permitted to provide supplies to some of the centers which primarily catered to Indian patients. IDAK distributed cooked food packets, drinking water bottles and personal hygiene kits to these camps. IDAK’s General Secretary, Dr. Jacob Lonappan said, “With the support of our volunteers, IDAK was able to distribute a total of about 6,650 food packets, about 6,000 bottles of drinking water and about 550 personal hygiene kits to the selected quarantine centers”.
In the early days of the outbreak, up to 80 percent of the COVID-19 cases in Kuwait were among Indians. Contact tracing is an essential public health measure that is vital in reducing the spread of the disease. MoH reached out to IDAK to assist them in conducting contact tracing of COVID-19 positive Indian patients. IDAK partnered with the Indian Doctors Forum (IDF) and carried out contact tracing from 10 April to 30 June.
Dr. Jitendra Ariga and Dr. Roy Francis, from the School Oral Health Program and Dr. Jagan Baskaradoss, from Kuwait University led the team of around 60 volunteers for contact tracing. Dr. Jitendra said, “Contract tracing was successfully completed for 1,360 COVID-19 positive Indians, and we were able to identify around 6,350 of their contacts. Through this effort, IDAK was able to identify several hotspots in the spread of the disease and notify the MoH on a daily basis.”
IDAK is continuing its relief and humanitarian aid to the Indian community in Kuwait who are affected by the pandemic.
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