It all started on June 1 when the entire Mangor hill area especially Near Ambabai temple was sealed and cordoned after two cases one of a doctor and one of a labour from non-Goan community had tested positive. That evening saw various officials such as the Mamlatdar, Deputy Collector, Police Inspectors, DySPs etc rush to the site to take stock of the situation.
By that time the news about the COVID-19 cases in Mangor hill went viral and it was significant as Goa was still being touted as a Green zone. The authorities soon started the process of containing the cordoning of the area and restricting its access; a move that was also aimed at addressing the concerns raised by the general public.
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On the next day, around 200 swab samples were collected from people from the containment zone by the medical team as part of the testing process for COVID-19.
They were seen wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) suits whilst in the containment zone. The sight of the same clearly indicated the seriousness of the issue and the health risks involved.
At the same time, the other section of the administration such as the Deputy Collector’s office was involved in devising a plan to ensure the supply of essential goods to the households as soon as possible. A helpline number was also announced where people from the containment zone could call and place their orders.
Elsewhere in the vicinity of the containment zone, the Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) Chairperson Nandadeep Raut demanded for a lockdown in Vasco to stop the infection from spreading outside the containment zone. He also urged Health Minister Vishwajit Rane and Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida to visit the area and personally inspect the proceedings. It is to be noted that the South Goa Collector and other administrative and police teams were present at the containment zone.
By the third day, the number of COVID-19 cases had started to increase and the number of swabs being collected for testing also increased. As per the Health Bulletin, on June 3, around 1438 swab samples were collected and sent for testing. The number of cases had also risen to 47 and the total active COVID-19 cases in Goa were 69 at this point.
This led to a wave of posts on social media with many panicking and expressing fears about what would happen next and the blame-game had started in full swing.
One June 4, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant visited the area and interacted with the police and medical staff on duty and also held a review meeting with various government departments and the MMC. Here again, the Vasco MLA reiterated his demand for putting Vasco under lockdown, a demand that the Chief Minister played down and said it would be considered for Vasco if the number of cases outside the containment zone increase significantly. The CM also tried to focus on how all the cases were from the containment zone and moved on to other administrative issues like insisting that essential supplies reach each household at the earliest.
The very next day though, there was a crisis in the containment zone and palpable anger amongst the residents. There was a medical emergency and five persons had fallen ill but it took hours before they could receive any medical assistance or attention. With a crowd gathering in the street to voice their concerns, a local councillor arranged for a private vehicle that transported the five persons to the Chicalim sub-district Hospital.
That was not all though and there was another social media storm over the manner in which other residents protested. Upset over the lack of supply of essential goods and delay in medical assistance as well as the break in testing, locals had started protesting on the streets. However, some of the locals threw the food items supplied to them on the floor, amidst complaints of its poor quality, a charge that was denied by the administration and the Chief Minister himself.
Local councillors also started calling for better supply of essential supplies and access to medical facilities given that the locals were dependent on the administration.
Around that time, the MMC Chairperson gave a call for all the shopkeepers and market vendor to go for a voluntary lockdown given that their demand for the same had not been accepted.
In the following days, the containment zone was sanitised, there was partial success to the call for a lockdown and the Transport Minister and Dabolim MLA also called for a complete lockdown in the port town. Opposition leaders also started making similar demands and criticizing the government for not agreeing to the voice of the people.
Things took a turn for the worst, when cases in the vicinity of the containment zone started emerging and it only started spreading from there. The first such case was detected in Shantinagar and around 30 swab samples were collected and sent for testing. This would set the trend whenever cases started emerging in surrounding areas as well.
The Chief Secretary, Health Secretary and other high-ranking officials also visited the containment zone to review the situation and several instructions were given to the address the woes of the locals.
On June 10, the Director of Municipal Administration Tariq Thomas visited the area and met the Municipal councillors after few MMC staff members were detected with COVID-19. He interacted with them too. He however tried to impress upon the councillors to revoke the call for the lockdown.
In the containment zone things were getting tense with health department staff testing positive and this leading to contact tracing in various parts of Goa from where the health staff members were residing in. At the same time,, locals from ‘Bada Mangor’ started demanding that their area be removed from the containment zone owing to the massive difficulties they were facing.
And as tally of the cases in the State were hitting a triple century, people from Vasco were in for a shock when a priest from the Church was detected with COVID-19. This led to efforts to sanitise his residence and surrounding areas and testing of people he came in contact.
The Chairperson now called the Health Minister to depute new health staff at the Health Centre that has its office at the municipality building given the need to address the growing health concerns in the area. While the building was sanitised the call for the lockdown suffered a setback with the vendors deciding to reopen their shops that were earlier closed.
To allay the concerns of the locals, a large number of locals from Shantinagar, New Vaddem were also screened with thermal guns and those who had fever symptoms were sent for testing.
The police personnel who were earlier operating without much protection were also given PPE kits and accommodation to stay. This was done to ensure their health and safety given that they were involved in various patrolling activities not just at the containment zone but around too such as barricading a part of Khariwado. However, it appears that the administration still has a lot of work to do with confirmed cases emerging in surrounding areas including Baina area.
