Cases are down at the all India level as on Friday the number of new cases was 1260. It has been a steady decline and is showing no signs of any immediate surge. The active caseload in the country now stands at 0.03 per cent and the recovery rate 98.76. Daily positivity rate is 0.24 per cent and the weekly positivity rate is a low 0.23 per cent. All are signs that the virus has weakened which are leading States to take decisions on lifting the restriction after the Centre in a communication to chief secretaries of all States informed that the National Disaster Management Authority has concluded that there may not be any further need to invoke the provisions of the Disaster Management Act for COVID containment measures.
The decision by the Centre was taken as ‘significant capacities have been developed’ for the management of the pandemic and that the people also now have a higher level of awareness on the COVID-appropriate behaviour. That is true, for there is not just the vaccine, but treatment too has improved, and the virus also appears to have lost much of its potency. The decline in cases in the country has been seen over two months, which could finally put an end to all the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. With the exception of wearing of face masks and maintaining social distancing norms all other restrictions are now ended. Maharashtra, however, has not made mask wearing mandatory. The Centre, however, did caution that in view of the nature of the disease, the people will still need to remain watchful of the situation. Precisely, there is no telling when the virus can return.
In the current circumstances, is Goa ready to take the cue from the Centre and lift all pandemic restrictions, including wearing of masks? With cases in single digits for the past weeks it certainly appears to be, but the unexpected outbreak at an educational institution could throw all plans for returning to the normal awry. However, if this sudden increase in cases can be controlled within the institution as this is a residential campus and students had returned for physical classes from their home states, it is possible that it may not spread. The number of cases increased the next day at the campus, but symptoms were mild, some of those testing positive even being asymptomatic. The focus should be on keeping it from spreading outside the campus. While suggesting lifting of restrictions, the Centre had recommended that in case of any surge in cases, prompt action at the local level would have to be taken. In this regard, Goa’s positivity rate is 1.21, a lot higher than the national average.
After the summer of last year when cases spiraled and led to a number of deaths, Goa has been able to maintain an improved management of the virus. Cases went up again, but mainly because of the outbreak in the educational institution. If the current spike due to the cases here is contained to within the campus then Goa can get back to complete normalcy. But there is one lesson from the cases at the institution, as it leads to the possibility of there being infections of the Coronavirus that are completely asymptomatic. Some infections were discovered only due to the mandatory testing of contacts, with the patient showing no symptoms. In the light of this, Goa has to take a very measured decision on lifting all pandemic restrictions.
