MARGAO: Expressing concerns over the increasing number of COVID cases in Goa, MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco on Thursday asked Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant to take up the matter seriously as four different strains of COVID-19 are spreading in Goa.
He said the UK, US strain, double mutant from Maharashtra and the original COVID strains are spreading in Goa, which have resulted in 857 deaths so far as Goa has once again recorded 5000 active cases.
He lamented that despite this scenario the government appears to be least bothered in dealing with the problem and accused it of busy promoting tourism even though all and sundry are holding tourism responsible for the surge in cases in Goa.
“Why is the government not imposing fines on thousands of people who are moving around in Goa without masks,” he asked and alleged that ‘even the Tika Utsav launched by the government to vaccinate people is being conducted without maintaining social distance.’
He alleged that there is no social distancing maintained at the night parties taking place in Goa and claimed that some people despite being vaccinated were infected by the virus when they visited the casinos.
Aleixo demanded an immediate stop to all night life activities and sought mandatory testing for all those entering Goa particularly those coming from Maharashtra or Delhi. He demanded that a rapid test be conducted at the entry point especially at the airport.
