Kozhikode Corporation’s health officer heads home after action-packed tenure

He led last rites of Nipah victims, was active in COVID-containment activities

From leading the last rites of Nipah victims to managing bird flu and now trying to contain COVID-19 for the past one-and-a-half years, R.S. Gopakumar has had an action-packed tenure as the health officer of the Kozhikode Corporation in over four years. On Friday, he will bid farewell to the city to join duty in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. It was Dr. Gopakumar’s first job in government service when he joined the city corporation in January 2017. He is reported to have played a major role in fast-tracking the renovation of S.M. Street later that year. However, it was during the Nipah outbreak in 2018 that Dr. Gopakumar’s work gained attention. He led from the front in performing the last rites of some of the victims. Dr. Gopakumar also played the role of a mediator when a section of crematorium workers and local residents raised objections to the funeral of infected persons. Dr. Gopakumar received a good service entry by the State government for the work. Dr. Baburaj, the character played by actor Indrajith in the Aashiq Abu flick Virus, was inspired by him. When bird flu struck Kozhikode in 2020, he was part of the containment measures. Dr. Gopakumar has been active in the team of health workers in the civic body trying to manage the pandemic. Now he is shifting to the State capital, also his hometown, due to personal reasons. The ongoing Zika virus outbreak there is also believed to have been a reason for the transfer. A farewell event has been scheduled before his departure.