Goa woke up on Thursday to the delightful news that a patient who had tested positive for COVID-19, had fully recovered from the virus, thus bringing the count of active cases in Goa to six out of seven. Of the remaining six cases, five are of foreign returnees and one is the brother of the first positive case. The government is right in saying that there has been no community transmission in the State, which might not be the case with our neighbouring States, where the number of COVID-19 cases has breached the 1,000 mark.
Yes, Goa was slow in responding to the Coronavirus pandemic and we have to thank God, not the government, for saving the State from the worst. Until March 20 or 21, the State was in election mood for the Zilla Panchayat, and it was only the video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi that changed the scenario. It was right after that video conference with the PM, that the CM took charge and then some tough decisions. Despite no positive case, the CM was bold enough to order a lockdown for three days and later up to April 30.
As the nation entered the crucial third week of the lockdown, there are several challenges before the State, one being whether or not to open the State borders with Karnataka and Maharashtra, as both States have seen a spike in COVID-19 cases in the past few days. The Council of Ministers has suggested an extension of the lockdown till April 30, but the question remains whether the Centre will continue the lockdown in Goa considering that the number of cases is in single digits.
While essential supplies have been regularised from Karnataka and Maharashtra, there has been no private or public vehicle permitted to enter. While the decision lies with the PM, the Goa Chief Minister has to stand firm and ensure that domestic flights and trains are not allowed into the State. Goa is still relatively safe, but allowing flights and trains will open the State to travellers and there would be no control on the people coming from across the country. Goa is a tourist State, this is holiday time and people from Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh would find it safer to be in Goa where the number of COVID-19 cases is low. So families will throng Goa putting lakhs of Goans at risk. This, if allowed, by the Central government, could spell doom for Goa.
It is common knowledge that Goa has limited medical infrastructure and monitoring at the airport and railway stations has been casual. Hence, Goa is in no way capable of handling the situation, with the resources at hands. Agreed, airlines and railways are facing huge losses due to the suspension of services, but then no business is in profit as of today, the pandemic has not spared anyone – right from the small businessman to the salaried person.
Not just Goa, Sawant has to convince the Prime Minister that inter-State movement, including public transport, trains and domestic flights must be restricted to keep the spread of the virus in check. The CM has to also inform the Centre that even though the lockdown is yet to be lifted, a few domestic airlines, railways are accepting online reservation of tickets for travel from April 15. With around 6,000 positive cases, and increasing at a rate of 500 cases a day, the situation in India is serious. These are figures from where countries like Italy and US zoomed to a lakh and more. This was the turning point and India, more particularly Goa, has to decide what is right for the citizens, even if it means sacrifices for a few days.
