THURSDAY, MAY 09, 2024
But, this is not Wonderland, this is our Goa, where just recently we were told that there was no need to worry. The words said and repeated were, ‘bivpachi garaz nam’. And as law-abiding citizens of this State who trust that the government has everything in place, we believed this. We believed this despite the fact that a lady had managed to enter Goa and reach Calangute without being tested for the novel coronavirus. When she fell ill, she was rushed to a hospital and a test showed that she was positive. We believed this despite the fact that the government was not clear about the ‘medical practitioner’ in Mangor Hill who had treated the fisherman’s family that was found COVID-19 positive and that led to spurt of cases in the area forcing the government to declared Mangor Hill a containment zone. We believed this despite the fact that the number of coronavirus cases were increasing fast and spreading throughout the State. We believed this, because we believed that the government had our backs. And then, as Alice would have said, the situation got curiouser and it is now becoming difficult to believe that there is no need to fear.
What has changed the circumstances almost completely is that a man who apparently arrived in Goa by train from Delhi was tested for coronavirus. In the self-declaration form he gave the address as that of a bar in or near the Panjim Market, there is still no clarity on this. When he tested positive a message was sent to him and that’s when he went missing, with the authorities clueless about his whereabouts, and even his antecedents. What is known is that he is an ‘officially missing person’ in Delhi. So here are a few questions. We have been told that only persons who can show a residential address in Goa are allowed to come to the State. What address did this man show? Of a bar in or near the market? And was that accepted as a residential address? Also, did he or did he not download the Arogya Sethu app? The Health Secretary says that they ‘assume that a person gives us authenticated information in the self- declaration form’. As do we, the people, assume that the government is taking all care to ensure our safety from the novel coronavirus and that it is ensuring that those who come into Goa are valid residents of the State are not a threat to our health and safety. But, now we learn otherwise and have to admit to ourselves that bivpachi garaz asa.
And so, the minimum that has to be done is that the standard operating procedure adopted for travellers needs to be changed all over again. We can’t allow people to enter the State without a test and be sent to voluntary home quarantine. The mystery of this missing man underlines why it is important to test all travellers to the State and keep them in paid quarantine till the test results are out. If this had been the procedure adopted, the man who tested positive would not have gone missing, as he would have been in a government facility during the time it took to get the result of the test. If the government wants that we citizens should live without fear of the novel coronavirus, then it should gives us the confidence that all is being taken care of. For now we live in the fear of what next episode will unravel in the COVID-19 saga and that will further endanger the people of Goa. Can this fear be lifted from our already burdened shoulders?
