It is coming to two years since the first janata curfew of March 2020 that soon led to the lockdown and the physical distancing that kept people away from sports events. In the meantime Goa hosted the ISL season 2020-21 and is now the 2021-22 season with no spectators but which ends this Sunday with the final match that is open to fans, at 100 per cent capacity. All normal activity had been cleared, except spectators for the ISL. Even the semi finals were held to empty stands, before the full stadium capacity has been permitted for the finals. It does appear strange as if there were plans to have a full stadium for the finals, the semi finals could have been kept open for spectators at 50 per cent capacity.
It is clear that the pandemic has slowed considerably down in Goa and across the country as cases are consistently dropping in the past weeks, which has led to India announcing the opening up for normal commercial international air traffic from later this month. The signs of a complete return to normalcy are showing. But this has been overshadowed by a rise in cases in some other countries. As has occurred in the past, the virus has resurfaced in South-East Asia, with the World Health Organisation sounding a warning as this occurred after several weeks of a decline in reported cases of COVID19. Not just South-East Asia, but globally there is an increase again that WHO asserts is despite a decrease in testing in some countries. This has led the international health body to warn that this could be just the ‘tip of the iceberg’.
The pandemic has brought along with it other problems not related to health, but affecting the health of the economy. The recurring waves of the pandemic that every time lead to a re-imposition of preventive measures and behavioural restrictions severely affect economic activity. Business and industry in the country has experienced a volatile two years, unsure of how to deal with the losses, while unemployment has risen considerably in the country. For Goa, in particular the tourism sector that has only now been showing a recovery, any further restrictions induced due to the pandemic could deliver another blow to it. The spread of the COVID-19 variants that has come after gaps of a few months have eroded any gains that had been made during the lull. Another wave or variant of the virus could have devastating effects on the people and the economy. So, even as we return to a period of normalcy, precautions have to continue.
India has just started vaccinating children aged 12 years and above for the virus. Goa has a good record of the anti-COVID vaccination and possibly this could control the spread of the virus. The long two years of the pandemic have exhausted the people and the end somehow appears to be almost a mirage that keeps getting further away the closer we come to it. Schools have reopened for classroom teaching and now sports stadiums are also throwing open their gates. This was the last of the restrictions that were still in place in the State. It is the complete return to what it was like two years ago and yet there are shadows that keep lengthening over the return to normalcy. The only thing that Goa can do is keep itself safe for as long as possible, holding the virus at bay for as long as possible.
