PANJIM: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday again ruled out a lockdown and announced that more restrictions will be imposed on indoor and outdoor public events including weddings and political programmes.
Expressing his concern over the spike in COVID-19 cases in the State, Sawant, appealed to the people to avoid crowded places and to wear face masks, use sanitisers and maintain social distancing. He said that from Saturday, those found violating standard operating procedures (SOPs) will be fined.
Sawant ruled out restrictions on passengers/ tourists arriving from other States. Due to the lockdown and an alarming COVID-19 situation in other States, arrivals of passengers by air had dropped by 70 per cent and passengers via road have dropped by 50 per cent. There is no need of further restrictions, he said.
Asserting that the State has the best medical facilities for testing, tracking and treating, Sawant urged the people to follow SOPs and seek timely medical help. “We have best medical facilities in Goa but people need to avoid crowds. By Monday mobile testing van will be available so that RT-PCR testing facility report is made available to people arriving in Goa within eight hours,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that bed capacity at Goa Medical College (GMC) COVID ward will be increased. GMC has 180 beds and all beds are full and 60 new beds will be added by Saturday. South Goa District Hospital, Margao has 309 beds and 150 more beds will be added while, 210 bedded ESI Hospital, Margao will be made operational from Saturday.
Besides this, two COVID care centres have been opened at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee indoor stadium and Nehru stadium, Fatorda and if need arises the ID Hospital at Ponda will be declared as COVID Hospital.
Sawant said that the ongoing vaccination programme in the State will continue till April 20 and appealed to those who have recovered from COVID-19 disease to donate plasma to treat COVID infected patients.
The Chief Minister said that he held a review meeting and found that sufficient testing kits are available in the State. Sawant said that municipal council elections are unavoidable and will be held as per schedule on April 23.
