The answer came late Wednesday evening when news filtered in that the rapid test for COVID-19 had come positive for seven persons who had entered the State that day. The confirmatory test result was not out even till late in the night. In the past weeks Herald has been continuously stressing that just because there were no active COVID-19 cases in the State it did not mean that Goa was free of the virus. It meant that Goa had to take extreme care not to allow the virus into the State. So, did we take that care? All those who tested positive in the rapid test are persons who have come from outside the State.
Against this backgroud, did Goa do well by allowing travellers to enter the State in the midst of the lockdown? Is the arrival of trains to Goa a wise decision?
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Even a cursory glance at the roadmap of the government for the immediate future of exiting the lock down, made it appalingly clear that Goa would not be keeping the novel coronavirus at bay. Goa was, to use a cliché, skating on thin ice, and the plans that the Chief Minister has revealed is cutting a deep wedge on that ice. That ice could crack even before the trains and buses that the State is planning to allow in could arrive.
In the light of the suspected seven new cases, the government has to relook at opening the State’s borders at this point of time, when cases of COVID-19 are on the rise in the rest of the country. If confirmed positive, Goa could go from a Green Zone to an Orange Zone in just a day. This could place the entire State at risk, and proves beyond doubt that the coronavirus is coming from across the borders. With train services to Margao resuming this week, and with the Chief Minister looking at reviving tourism in the State by allowing vehicles to cross the border, the cases can rise quickly.
For the past over eight weeks, Goans have behaved most responsibly observing the lockdowns and all the restrictions that have been imposed by the Central and State governments. If the virus was not able to spread in the State it is only because of the sacrifices of the Goans who resolutely stayed home. But all those sacrifices may now have been in vain, if the confirmatory tests on the seven patients are positive. It doesn’t matter that they are all travellers from outside the State. The cases will be added to the Goa tally, and this will place Goa in the orange zone.
Even now, the government assures that it will adopt a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the travellers who will come to Goa. It announced this on Wednesday hours before the COVID-19 rapid test positives were detected, but that plan is akin to a seive. At the present moment we have a SOP that mandates 14 days of institutional quarantine, followed by 14 days of home quarantine as has been followed for the seafarers. Will it be possible to screen and test all the persons entering the State via road and rail and quarantine them? Let’s face it, this will be one major task, and will tourists – for the government is talking of tourism – be willing to be restricted to the confines of a hotel room during their stay in the State? The plan is flawed, it just cannot be taken forward. The only solution is tightening the entry at the borders.
