Kerala’s Innovations and Flexibility for Covid-19 Recovery: Storytelling using Systems Thinking

Elias, Arun A.

During the early five months of the first phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, the South Indian state of Kerala regularly appeared in world media, presenting an impactful case of Covid-19 innovations. The purpose of this article is to uniquely present Kerala’s success of flattening the Covid-19 curve during that period, employing storytelling using systems thinking. Contributing to the literature stream linking flexible systems management and systems thinking, this study presents the interconnected whole of Kerala’s Covid-19 innovations for pandemic management. The reference mode that was developed using the systems thinking and modelling methodology confirmed Kerala’s exemplary performance in flattening the Covid-19 curve during the first five months of 2020. The systems model built showed six feedback loops explaining how Covid-19 spreading was controlled in Kerala by different types of innovations and an effective public health system. Overall, with a strong inbuilt social fabric, experienced leadership that withered Nipah-virus outbreak, and robust public health system at its advantage, Kerala flattened the Covid-19 curve using its intertwined social, policing, communication and technological innovations.