Ramaswami: INITIAL CASES It was on January 30, that the first COVID-19 case in India was confirmed in Kerala, by MoHFW. It was a student who had returned from Wuhan and was undergoing treatment in isolation in the General Hospital, Thrissur. Subsequently, the second and third cases were confirmed on February 2 and 3 respectively. They were also students who had returned from Wuhan. A ‘State Disaster’ was declared and emergency responses were initiated. During this initial phase itself, the health minister, health secretary and director of health services met to decide upon the emergency interventions required. Meetings of the state and district level Rapid Response Teams were convened. On February 1, the National Institute of Virology’s unit in Alappuzha was prepared to test samples. State and district level control rooms started working round the clock. Isolation facilities were further strengthened in all designated hospitals. At least two hospitals in each district were prepared to handle those with symptoms and requiring treatment in isolation. As we were prepared in advance, Kerala was able to stop the spread of the disease to others, from the initial cases. All the initial cases were cured and discharged, by the third week of February.