Some accountability needed
The unprecedented Covid crisis engulfing the state requires a strategic, well thought through, scientific and co-ordinated response to tackle it but sadly none of that is part of the government’s armoury; witness the needless loss of 26 lives yesterday at GMC due to lack of oxygen. Amidst all this mayhem our Teflon coated CM and HM are at loggerheads trying to apportion blame, with CM pointing fingers at the GMC dean and the oxygen supplier while the HM has pretty much washed his hands off the whole affair and wants judicial intervention.
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Political grandstanding and ‘tu tu mayn mayn ‘ is not something we can indulge in at this critical juncture especially when thousands of lives are at stake. Had the sarkar paid heed to the advice of domain experts, doctors, educationists and civil society earlier we wouldn’t have been swamped by Covid Tsunami 2.0 (wave is too light a term), scarily even the indomitable medical fraternity is on the verge of surrender to the relentless march of the contagion.
The so-called lockdown has not produced the desired results with fatality numbers going through the roof and tearing the citizenry’s life asunder. Medicos had red flagged the oxygen crisis over a month ago but the government took it’s eyes off the Covid ball, if this is not criminal negligence then I don’t know what is.
Our control freak mantris and paper pushing babus need to take a leaf out of Maharashtra’s playbook to see how the virus can be significantly curbed if not vanquished by decentralising control and command, adopting unconventional measures like drive through vaccination, giving doctors a free hand at ward level to take measures as they deem fit and implement appropriate strategy unshackled by bureaucratic red tape and interference from netas.
Desperate times call for desperate measures and I hope the powers that be realise it more sooner than later, else it might be too late.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
A new theory on Covid surge
The second wave has struck the nation very hard that has now challenged, India’s medical infrastructure. Speculation is growing in India, about the latest surge in the COVID-19 infection cases. An Indian Kashmiri activist and well-renowned Journalist Sajid Yousuf Shah have blamed Chinese Communist spies. It’s suspected that the new Covid Variants creating havoc in India are infused by State sponsor Chinese agents through Indo-Nepal border. China sees India’s rise as a major threat.
More over the world preferred Indian made vaccine over the Chinese due to high efficacy rate and vaccine came with no demands attached and it was for free and less priced for a commercial deal. While handling the Covid-19 situation at home, India started to export medicines, vaccines and other emergency medical critical equipment to help the world to fight the Chinese Virus. The Chinese Virus was released from the Wuhan Lab a lot of people were killed.
The intent of China is very clear that it’s obviously to spread the virus rather than containing it in China. These incidents raise too many questions which need a straight forward answer.
K.G.Vilop, Chodan
Responsible Goans
As the ongoing pandemic is not yet showing any sign of vanishing; we as responsible citizens need to strictly follow the norms and SOP with regards to Covid-19. We need to practice proper hygiene and sanitation at home and also educate awareness among the masses.
If anyone is in need of any essential like food, shelter and finance etc, as humans we need to help and play our small parts as good samaritans during these days of hardship.
Lets call our far of relatives and friends and enquire about their health, specially if they reside alone. I know these days are hard but we all will get through this together.
Lisa Fernandes,
Quepem.
Hospital negligence
In real world, even an uneducated person takes care of his/her pet animal as their own blood!
This disconsolate incident at GMC, clearly speaks that they owned negligence for the loss of 26 innocent lives in just 4 silent hours. The first question in one’s mind will be, is there a environmental, health and safety office /officer? If yes, are they qualified – responsible for their jobs for such a disaster during a dreadful period of time? The hospital is negligent in its own actions for the cause of these wrongful deaths.
They have totally failed to verify that its health care providing abilities are not competent, safe, but not properly trained. They have badly failed in establishing proper patients safety protocols.
Obviously, the doctors and the nurses will get a panic attack, not knowing what to do in such sudden circumstances, if lack or disconnect of oxygen support. To conclude, it is easy to raise one’s hand and request for a court investigation or play the blame game, which is certainly not going to bring the family member back to life of those grieved in shock.
In such a grave negligence attitude from such a well-known GMC hospital, it is important that some heads should roll. One can imagine, what will the state of the relatives who were resting outside the ward, how do they handle the situation, apart from the duty doctors and the nurses. In sorrow, RIP!
Gaston Dias, Sarzora
Goans die due lack of oxygen
The heads of Pramod Sawant, Chief Minister and Vishwajeet Rane, Health Minister should roll along with the administration-in-charges like the Dean and others at Goa Medical College who are responsible for the disaster in which 26 Goans lost their lives because of lack of oxygen. Instead of owning their responsibility and resigning on their own, the Health Minister is asking for a High Court probe into the mishap.
One cannot understand what is there to probe except push out the incident from the public mind and organise a cover-up to absolve the offenders. The Chief Minister on his part is pulling up the suppliers of oxygen for failing to give adequate supplies which is again to divert attention from the main issue which is an administration failure from the top down. This is being said because the GARD had over the last month or so been bringing attention to the fact that the COVID wards at GMC have been running short of oxygen regularly.
Both the Chief Minister and Health Minister have been claiming that there is no shortage of medical oxygen in Goa. They were both at the GMC last week addressing a press conference on the oxygen issue where CM Sawant claimed that he had not been told about the problem of oxygen supply at the GMC COVID ward and publicly pulled up the Health Minister and the Dean, GMC. Now, when he was told and he was aware what did the CM do? Allowed 26 Goans to die! Clearly it is his failure.
Not only that a few days back he sent oxygen cylinders to Sawantwadi claiming it was for humanitarian reasons. What answer will Sawant give when the families of the 26 victims question him on humanity to them? Why are we bothered about being human to outsiders and not to our own people, the Goans? We need to ask Sawant now – How many oxygen cylinders were sent to Sawantwadi? If they had not been sent then would the lives of the 26 Goans have been saved? If so, is Sawant not more culpable in the deaths of the 26 Goans? Action need be taken in this matter and immediately at that so that a precedent is set and hopefully no Goan lives are needlessly lost.
Srinivas Kamat,
Alto St. Cruz
