PANJIM: The Indian Medical Association (IMA) Goa State has urged the government to conduct nasopharyngeal swab test of all essential service transport drivers and accompanying persons, in the wake of two truck drivers among eight who tested positive for COVID-19.
“All essential service transport drivers and accompanying men should be tested by nasopharyngeal swab at the respective borders irrespective of they have any upper respiratory symptoms or fever and allowed entry into the State and he should be told to be discrete in his movement in the State till he is communicated by authorities about his swab test result,” IMA Goa president Dr S Samuel said in a press statement on Thursday.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
“Once the report comes and by chance if he is reported positive, the authorities could trace him easily and limit the spread by immediate tracking and containment as per protocol. It will help the State in proper containment of this COVID-19 pandemic and continue testing the regular people coming legally and quarantining them as per the tests result,” he added.
The IMA said although as per the guidelines of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), drivers and accompanying staff of essential supplies transport should not be tested; the association’s suggestion is meant for smooth flows of essential supplies.
“By our method, we are in no way hampering flow of supplies but also keep our Goa State safe by fast containment. In case testing facilities are inadequate then pooling of swabs of quarantine people and performing RT-PCR test will help in increasing number of test done( as per guidelines of The Indian Council of Medical Research),” he said.
The IMA expressed satisfaction over the screening of people entering the State. It however expressed worry about the positive case of a second truck driver. “One good thing is that legally people coming in Goa are properly screened, tested and quarantined so even if they turned out to be positive the spread is well contained. Second one which is disturbing, is that truck driver had to become symptomatic before he could be detected as COVID-19 positive and this is most dangerous for the society as he may have come to Goa at least 24 to 48 hrs prior and no authorities have control on his movements,” he added.
