No new COVID-19 cases reported in Goa for well over a fortnight, a welcome development for a state that is sandwiched between Maharashtra and Karnataka which are reporting new cases every day. Goa has allowed a partial opening up but has witnessed an almost outpouring of people and vehicles on the road. Pragmatic Goans see this move with a degree of worry and exercise ample caution
Risky move as social distancing not being maintained
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
Dr Hubert Gomes felt it was a very risky move. He pointed out that many people were disobeying the restrictions on social distancing. The doctor said “Although govt declared the state COVID 19 we don’t really know how many carriers are present in the state. According to the ICMR report, 80% of people don’t show symptoms, and remember we have not done enough of testing in the state. Another way of looking at it is perhaps Goa has developed community immunity or herd immunity which means we had become resistant to the virus. I hope this is true”.
The challenge is to ensure that we remain at zero cases
Another medical professional, with a voice in the circles of power, Dr. Shekhar Salkar felt it was a very good decision by the government to ease up. He said “It is a great development that no new cases have been reported in the state. The challenge is to now ensure it stays that way. We have to ensure that people from outside don’t come, especially from places like Mumbai, Pune, Belgaum where there are a lot of cases. The problem is people can come into Goa from the smaller roads which are not observed by the police.
We have to test vegetable vendors, fishermen coming from outside.
It is going to be very difficult but we have to ensure people from outside don’t come in”. The head of TTAG, Savio Messias echoed these sentiments saying it was a very good idea but they had to be very strict. It was also important to increase testing in suspicious areas. When asked what he meant he said “We have to test vegetable vendors, fishermen coming from outside. We have to be on our toes to ensure there are no new cases”.
I look around at my neighbours and they seem to be celebrating as if we have won a war
There were those who felt strongly that it was a very bad idea to ease up. Milroy Goes, is a film director who strongly felt the government should have waited before taking this step. He said “Just because no new cases were reported means nothing. One has to look at the number of testing that has happened. Caution would have certainly helped. You have to understand we are between Maharashtra and Karnataka two big states where cases are still being reported. We are in the middle. I look around at my neighbours and they seem to be celebrating as if we have won a war. This could prove to be a false dawn. Perhaps we should have gone the whole hog in terms of the lockdown which would have certainly helped”.
Goa will have to be locked down again
Architect Dean D’ Cruz had a very interesting view. He said the authorities ought to ease up for a week so that the people could buy their rations. The state he said would have to be locked down again to ensure it did not spread. He said “ We don’t really know if this virus is still there or hiding somewhere. We don’t know if people are quietly crossing the border. We cannot take chances”.
Just look at Mumbai, the number of cases is increasing by the day but testing is also taking place
Another professional who works with crowds as a Zumba instructor felt the government should have waited a while before easing up on the lockdown. She said “You have to understand, not enough of tests have been conducted and so we don’t really know how many people are infected. Even during the lockdown, it was common to see people walking on the road. I believe the number of testing has to be increased. Just look at Mumbai, the number of cases is increasing by the day but testing is also taking place. We should do something like that here too”.
We don’t really know the real situation on the ground. I hope it does not come back to bite us
Former beauty queen and corporate MC Keziah Caldeira felt it was not a good idea to go easy now. She said “I think the lockdown should have gone on until May 3.You have to understand the number of tests conducted has been very low even for a small state like Goa. So, we don’t really know the real situation on the ground. I hope it does not come back to bite us”.
So hold the celebrations. The war is on. And you still need to fight it from indoors
