26 May 2020 | 04:08am IST
Has Goa “landed” in trouble?
Cases increasing everyday seems to make for very depressing reading. Did the Goan government commit a blunder by allowing flights to land without making testing and quarantine compulsory as other states have done
Ajit John
Some days it is a sprint
and others a slow and steady crawl. Oh yes, make no
mistake the numbers are increasing every day. Internationally India is now the
10th most affected country. At the micro level, Goa registered its 56th case
since the lockdown was eased. It seems just like yesterday when Goa was
absolutely free. No Covid 19 cases and more importantly no transmission into
the community. Then the lockdown was eased, people were allowed to come in. And
then it all started.
Like
everything in life there are ways to look at things. Medical professionals were
divided as whether this was part of the entire process and if it was unfair to
point fingers at the government. Dr Madhu Gawde, based in the South Goa
district hospital felt it was part of the flow of business and Goa was in no
way losing the plot. He said “There are phases and I remember in the beginning
some people believed the virus would not come to Goa. To do so would be to live
in a fool’s paradise. You have to remember a lockdown is not a solution to the
virus. It was meant to buy time and get one’s systems in place. We knew people
would come. Talk to people in Dharavi, UK and other western countries, the
people who were affected and survived are now absolutely fine. None of them
have been infected again. The people who died were the aged and mainly smokers
and drug addicts. India learned how to handle it from the experiences of the
west”.
Another senior health professional
Dr Francisco Colaco did not mice words when he said “ So far, not necessarily
because of the government policies, but owing to several innate favourable
factors, Goa has been spared of the brunt of Covid. But now, with the massive
influx of people, with the Govt in a confused state, all at sixes and sevens,
lacking the will to institute strong measures to scrutinize and test the influx
of people, it is well-nigh possible that we are on the verge of losing the
battle against Covid and having the chagrin of seeing Goa turn from a Green
zone into an orange one. Pray that those at the helm, instead of an amateurish
attitude will work in right earnest and will evince a serious and concerned
approach to save us from a possible inferno.”
Vasquito who is a wonderful
addition to a fine line of Goan chefs is also known for speaking rather plainly
when needed. He felt it was unfair to blame the government. He said “You have
to understand there is tremendous pressure from various lobbies like TTAG,
especially from the big hotel groups who want the hotels to open for business.
Everyone, you have to remember have lost a lot of money. It’s all about
economics. We cannot be like this forever. We have to open up and learn to live
with the virus. If it is not done then we will have people dying from
starvation”.
That is really the point. Allowing
flights to land may be justified only if we insist on a COVID test on landing
for all and compulsory quarantine for all without any distinction
Actor and social activist Meenacshi
Martins felt Goa had maintained a tight grip on the situation and therefore so
many people were identified as positive for COVID 19 at the border entry
points. She said “Pandemics are rare and we should have formed a taskforce to
appropriately manage the overall situation at the very onset. Now it is damage
control measures that need to be put in place. Most important is handling the
undue fear and paranoia associated with the viral infection. For this there
ought to have been larger canvassed awareness programs. Goans have a right to
come home. To make it safe for them and the population in Goa is a duty that
the government has to undertake on priority basis”.
It
remains to be seen how this will eventually turn out. Goa has been lucky, but
then one could say, luck is an important part in the mix.