As cases of COVID-19 rise and so do deaths, it is increasingly clear that Goa was just not prepared for the second wave that has hit the State. After having survived the expected increase of cases post the New Year Eve celebrations, that the Health Minister had warned would be an ‘uncontrollable’ situation, Goa relaxed, though in States around it cases were rising. The authorities went to the extent of decommissioning the COVID-19 hospital at ESI Hospital, Margao. Yet, there was reason to be prepared for the second wave. Herald, in late February had in this column warned that the State can stop worrying.
To quote briefly from what Herald had said in February, “If one goes by the earlier trend witnessed last year, when Europe was caught in the first wave India was still adding just a few cases to its total which was at that time considerably low. India situation got aggravated just as the first COVID-19 wave in Europe began to taper down. The second wave that hit Europe came as the virus in India was weakening. The European second wave, following lockdown measures is slowly now beginning to subside, and India that had seen a very sharp fall in its daily caseload earlier this month has just this past week again seen a rise, though still negligible.”
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A few days later, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan had cautioned people on turning complacent regarding the COVID-19 precautions just because the vaccine is already being administered. His advice was that COVID-appropriate behaviour be followed for ‘at least a few months’ so as to stop the chain of virus transmission. Perhaps, the exact opposite happened as cases have now increased to an unimaginable 2.70 lakh a day all India, and Goa has come close to 1000 new infections a day. These are figures that one needs to worry about and just cannot ignore. These are figures that one has to act upon, whether at the Centre or the State.
To quote another passage from what Herald had said in February, “The next few weeks are going to be crucial for the State and it has to check the trend in the neighbouring States so as to protect itself. With constant traffic between States, Goa cannot expect to be isolated if there is a second wave of the virus in the country and all precautions have to be taken.” The government has only now introduced Section 144 of the CrPC again and placed a cap on the number of people attending events. It has to do much more to protect the lives of the people.
On the other hand, there have been some institutions that have taken decisions to reduce human contact where possible. The Mapusa Church celebrated the feast of the Milagres Saibinn behind closed doors, while the Panjim Church and some others have temporarily stopped people’s attendance at masses. While we juggle with the health and the economy, non-economic activities can be curtailed so as to protect the people against infection and also to reduce the load on the health care services that are overburdened.
Last month, Tourism Minister Manohar (Babu) Ajgaonkar had admitted that a second wave of COVID-19 had hit Goa. We did not see any new curbs on travellers to the State being imposed, not even the production of a COVID-19 negative certificate was sought. If the government does not act, then it is for the people – the sensitive, responsible, proactive citizenry – to do what they can to keep the positivity rate down. We are well aware that the country cannot afford another lockdown of the kind it went through a year ago, but Maharashtra and Delhi have tweaked the lockdown to allow activity to continue without hurting the economy too badly. There are lessons to be learnt there.
