More government services will be available by mid-week when a larger number of the employees will return to work after over three weeks. At the same time, the door-to-door community survey is being held, where teachers and other government servants are out on the streets. Though there are questions being raised on the advisability of the survey as the persons will be going to each house, these come about as important steps in creating confidence in the people that Goa is ready to return to a some manner of normalcy in the coming weeks.
The State has completed more than three full weeks of a lockdown, as it had extended the Janata Curfew of March 21 by three days even before it had ended, which then went on to the 21-day lockdown announced by the Centre. Going by the number of COVID-19 cases in the State – seven of which five have recovered – the lockdown appears to have worked as there is no evidence of any community infection. There still remain two active cases in the State, but their primary contacts have been quarantined, tested and there is again no positive result from these. A sign of hope for the best, though Goa cannot claim that it is in the green zone yet, and so is not ready for lifting all restrictions of the lockdown.
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There is more going for Goa. Since the State’s borders have closed for 21 days – except for the transportation of essentials – and the Coronavirus infection shows itself within less than a fortnight, it may be fairly safe to soon begin a slow return to an almost normal life. But, there have to be precautions and restrictions in place. In that sense, the relaxations cannot be seen as a total opening of the lockdown. Limited government and banking services, limited public transportation, limited businesses opening have to be how Goa takes its first steps towards lifting the lockdown. The opening of government departments is one such.
While Goa, with it borders tightly secured may be able to conduct some minimal business within the State, how much is the most significant question, as many other areas in the country will continue the lockdown. For industry and business, this will be the main worry factor, as they plan their reopening. As the lockdown is set to be extended, the Centre is prioritising the opening of the agriculture sector that has its winter crop in the fields ready for harvesting. This will have two positive results – provide livelihood to the farmers and also ensure the supply of essentials in the coming months. Goa, on the other hand, has limited agricultural activities – its rabi season a very low producer of vegetables – and depends almost entirely on the vegetable and fruit produce from other States.
The challenges before the government in lifting the lockdown in the State will be outlined in the coming days depending on the experiences that its departments face. One major factor will be public transport – how much and which routes to open. A large percentage of the workforce, not just government but industry too depends on public transport to get to work and back home. This will be the biggest challenge as the method of maintaining social distancing in the buses will turn into a major dilemma. This may be possible to a certain extent in the State-run corporation buses, but will the government be able to ensure that the privately-run buses adhere to these norms? For the present, the government offices are open, the next steps still remain to be decided.
