Govt to be blamed for pandemic spike
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant is to be blamed and should squarely take responsibility for the current very huge spike in COVID-19 cases that Goa is once again witnessing. With a very irresponsible government in the saddle, we seem to be yet again engulfing into the danger zone. People are living in fear and with great anxiety. It’s a sense of deep concern and despair all over.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
Over the last weeks we have been witnessing huge political gatherings and other events many attended by the Chief Minister himself without wearing a mask and maintaining no social distancing.
Amidst this now precarious scenario the Government has miserably failed and has grossly abdicated in its bounden responsibility to take swift concrete and radical steps towards preventing the further spread of this vicious virus.
Despite the Chief Minister’s assurance to the contrary, even that super spreader Sunburn festival was held. The casinos have merrily been breaching all the mandatory SOPs.
It is high time the government sincerely realises that these critical pandemic times requires that the priority be that the entire community works unitedly and relentlessly to combat the virus which has sadly re-surfaced all over.
Chief Minister, it can no longer be ‘Bhivpachi garaz Na’ while this pandemic is raging and the virus is inching to our doorstep.
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
Don’t take Covid-19 very lightly in Goa
The third wave of Covid-19 has finally hit Goa. Unfortunately, Dr Pramod Sawant led BJP government is reportedly planning to impose a night curfew in the state from 11 pm to 6 am to bluff Goans instead of immediately sealing all the neighbouring borders, strictly advising the public to follow all protocols of social distancing/wearing of mask, discouraging the domestic tourists from visiting beaches, casinos, discotheques, pubs etc, despite of seeing the sudden spike in Covid-19 cases here as if the virus suffers from blindness or moves around like a ghost only at night in Goa.
It was indeed really shocking to see pictures/videos on social media of Goa’s wild celebrations towards the end of December when other States were busy working on strategies to counter the spread of the Omicron virus in their respective States. In fact, the streets of Calangute-Baga, the venue of Sunburn at Vagator and the beaches were resembling like Carnival crowds of Rio de Janeiro with tourists indulging in uncontrolled partying. All protocol, social distancing, 50% capacity restrictions had fallen on deaf ears.
Unfortunately, our State government is still seen taking things very lightly and refusing to take any immediate action to contain the spread of the Omicron virus in Goa, why? Or is the government waiting to see some more deaths of Goans which it saw during the second wave due to its own negligence in Goa?
I think that after looking at the indifferent attitude of the current ruling BJP government in the State, it looks like the government is more interested in making only money by officially allowing all tourism-related activities to go on in full swing and not on fighting the strain of Omicron virus and protecting the health of Goans in Goa.
Jerry Fernandes, Saligao
Mild curbs not enough in Goa
The weekend curbs which were on the cards are back in Karnataka! Following a massive spike in Covid cases, the State government imposed a stay-at-home order on weekends and restricted public gatherings. In addition, the government closed educational institutions except grades 10, 11 and 12 and medical colleges in Bengaluru.
The new guidelines will kick in from 10 pm on Wednesday and remain in force till 5 am on January 19. Karnataka has witnessed an uptick in fresh infections since January 1, with cases in Bengaluru doubling in just 24 hours to 2,053 on Tuesday.
N J Ravi Chander, Bengaluru
Vaccinate children living in slums also
The Goa government said on Sunday that 72,000 students in the age-group of 15-18 would be administered the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine within four days. The students will be administered the vaccine across 529 schools. It is learnt that on Monday 5000 school students took the first jab on day one of the school vaccination campaign. It is pertinent to note that according to medical experts children who are not vaccinated are not only vulnerable to the virus but can also become potential spreaders of the disease. Hence there is the possibility of asymptomatic children spreading the virus to the elders in the house and those with comorbidities. Hence vaccinating children can play an important role in not only protecting them but also arresting the spread of the virus among adults.
There are many children, especially belonging to poor families and those living in the slums, who do not attend school. There could even be several school dropouts. These children also need to be vaccinated. It must be said that those children living in the slums are more vulnerable to the virus.
An example of this is the rapid spread of the disease in Dharavi in Mumbai which is considered as the largest slum in Asia. During the first and second wave of Covid-19 the authorities at Dharavi took timely action in order to see that the virus does not spread in the area. In Goa children not attending school and those living in the slums too need to be vaccinated along with the school children.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
1 in every 1213 persons died of Covid-19
To gauge the extent of the ravage that Covid-19 has wreaked on the world, it would be pertinent to ponder over a few facts and figures. Among the world population of 6.6 billion, 288 million people have been infected by Covid-19 and 5.44 million have perished totally globally. This means that one in every 1213 persons on earth have died due to the rampaging pandemic.
One in every 22.9 persons have been infected and 1 in every 52.9 persons infected have perished due to the deadly virus. Vaccinations have arrested the spread of infections and fatalities, but since especially the new Omicron variant which is about 3 times more infectious and has been able to circumvent protection afforded by the available vaccines, it would be prudent that avoiding crowding, social distancing and wearing of face masks, along with daily physical exertion to boost natural immunity as well as use of immunity boosters in the form of vitamins, minerals and amino acids should be practiced to keep especially the Omicron variant and the Delta variant at bay as far as possible.
Do not rely only on protection afforded by vaccination to keep you safe form infection.
Elvidio Miranda, Panjim
What a gem of a class in etiquettes!
Apropos to K S S Pillai’s hard-hitting piece “A Model for the Youngsters” (Herald January 05, 2022, Pillai has aptly given his piece of mind on the prevalent methods of debating, protesting and holding houses in session. What makes this piece acceptable and recommendable is his frank admission that political parties irrespective of ideological spectrums are guilty of this behaviour when they are in the opposition.
Shouting cannot help in resolving issues. Disruptions cannot give our country solutions to the pressing problems. The only way forward is bury the differences and sit across the table to engage with the government of the day to take our country forward on the path of development.
I hope in this hurly-burly of electioneering for Goa assembly elections our political class finds five minutes of time to read this eye-opening piece from the stalwart who has seen it all.
Gafaar Shaqoor, Margao
