Kerala is a coastal state in southern India. A few months ago, when the coronavirus pandemic was starting to engulf the country of my birth, the Marxist-ruled state was an exemplar of what was possible, even in poor countries, when political will, an educated population, and a pinch of foresight came together.
Kerala has long been a supplier of workers to other economies, in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere—workers who came flooding back when the coronavirus pandemic started shutting down economies worldwide. Many of them carried the virus with them. The first confirmed case in India was reported in Kerala. But as national numbers peaked over the summer, Kerala’s own indicators remained stubbornly good. The positive rate was lower than the national percentage; test-and-trace systems actually worked; recoveries led the nation.
