Goa has not yet picked up that speed. The speed is in identifying the cases, isolating them and tracking their contacts. Remember how Goa was doing this in May and June last year? But then as cases rose it got out of hand. We had that experience and we should have learnt from it and got prepared when cases had dropped to double digits. With numbers low it would have been much easier at that time to isolate patients and track contacts. Now, with upwards of 1500 cases a day – on April 25 it was 2292 cases – can we even think of contact tracing? It’s not possible at this point so we have lost that initiative that we had when cases were in double digits, or even had just crossed 100. We were complacent. We believed it would not happen again. Right now we cannot avoid the spread, we have to only minimise it.
The reason Goa has reached such a point in the COVID-19 pandemic is because we in Goa – and let’s be clear the government and the people – took it for granted that we had ridden the crest of the wave when the New Year parties didn’t spark a spike. Recall Health Minister Vishwajit Rane’s warning of that time that we were in for an uncontrollable increase in cases? It didn’t happen. So we let down our guard, and the uncontrollable increase in cases is happening now.
Why was a negative certificate for travellers entering Goa not made mandatory weeks ago? The Chief Minister is on record that currently there are few tourists coming. The tourism industry is therefore just about surviving. Let’s be clear in our minds that tourism is not going to pick up in the coming months. To the tourism stakeholder that is a grim reminder of another season lost. But even if Goa were to promote tourism at this point it will not help.
The economic costs of a lockdown are enormous. We understand that for economic reasons, a lockdown is ruled out, so what are the other options? We need strong clinical management of the infected, but the hospitals are swamped. So if the government can’t help, we have to protect ourselves, our families, our friends and our neighbours. We can’t depend entirely on the government. After a day of meetings the Chief Minister in his address to the State had nothing new to say, except that health facilities were being ramped up and assuring that a lockdown was not on the cards. We expected more from the Chief Minister as he rarely addresses the State in such manner. But it has just not been forthcoming.
New Zealand that has one the best records in containing COVID-19 spread followed a simple strategy of ‘go early and go hard’. It was successful. New Zealand is an island, can control entry and can keep cases down. Goa can’t do that. But there are other things Goa can do. We can have strict physical distancing, but instead we have had an election, where candidates moved in groups campaigning and there are pictures on social media of this. Has action been taken? Now, when results are due, there is a ban on processions. We have a night curfew from 10 pm to 6 am that will not change the situation. It is a measure announced to silence those who have been critiquing the government for not doing anything.
The pandemic has to be handled and controlled scientifically. The decisions should be led by evidence and technical guidance of the medical and scientific fraternity. Can the political establishment confine itself to ratifying decisions taken by a committee of experts rather than pushing their decisions on the people? Let our doctors and scientists lead and decide what is best for Goa at this moment. There is material from the World Health Organisation and from the Union Ministry of Health that can lead to taking informed decisions.
The immediate concern is to bring down the numbers. After that we will still have to remain vigilant. We let down our guard because the numbers were low, because we believed that the worst was over. We successfully hosted the Indian Super League and the International Film Festival of India, but after that the situation changed for the worse. We can still overcome if we can get our act together. We can still redeem the situation if we act now. So, act now and fast.
