Dr. T. Thirunarayanan of CTMR initiated an intervention to prevent Covid 19 among industrial workers at Valasaravakkam Zone of Greater Chennai Corporation. Awareness session on the clinical manifestations, it's preventive methods including Social distancing , wearing mask and hand wash , healthy food and Role of Siddha medicine' were explained to 800 workers on 15th March 2020. This was followed by administration of herbal combination containing Justicia Adathoda, Glycyrriza glabra and Piper longum twice a day for three days. In May 2020 immediately after the lock down was lifted A combination of a formulated drug Nilavembu kudineer along with Glycyrriza glabra was administered for three days. Every day the workers were screened for fever and clinical signs before entry into workplace. After the second lockdown when industry was allowed to function the Medicine was issued to all in early August. In end August RT PCR test for Covid was carried out in phases for all by GCC health professionals.. Excepting one all others tested negative. The one person too was weakly positive without symptoms and test carried out after three days he too tested negative. While few members around 10 of the workers family who did not take this tested positive. Most workers were from Kodambakkam and Valasaravakkam which were zones of high incidence.
In yet another group of 75 residents of an Gurukulam where mostly people over 60 years stay the intervention was carried out in March and again in September. Here again none developed any symptom . This is again in a high incidence district Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.
Both sites were closely monitored and clearly proves that Simple Siddha intervention along with SMS was able to protect people from Covid19. Next write up will be on Home based treatment for Covid 19
