The Covid mismanagement has hit another low with authorities now beginning to lose count of the dead. On Saturday, the health bulletin issued by the Directorate of Health Services showed 54 Covid deaths, and in less than an hour, it revised the figure to 40 stating that 14 of the deaths shown in the figure of 54 were those which occurred between April 29 and 30, and were not reported due to a technical glitch in the system. How on earth could deaths go unreported? Could the DHS throw light on what this glitch is all about? People have lost trust in this highly manipulative system because the stark ground realities are being continuously suppressed.
Last week, there was another major goof-up when a man in the South Goa district hospital was declared dead in the morning but was found alive and still undergoing treatment when the family members came to claim the body and conduct the final rites. How could this happen? Another technical glitch? Last month, there were issues with the disposal of bodies.
It's a foregone conclusion that the government has failed to manage the situation, but at least show some respect to people who have lost their lives. People of Goa are battered and families torn apart, there are three members of a family falling to Covid in one month in the port town. Does the system have any remorse for the people dying?
These are human lives at stake, and the toll is going higher every single day. If the figure was brought down to 40 in yesterday's bulletin, it has shot above 50 on Sunday’s report. How many bodies are needed for some seriousness to come in? If the health minister is to be believed, the virus is going to wreak further havoc in May with fatalities mounting towards 200.
By not tightening the screws on the movement of people and going for a week’s extension of existing mild restrictions, the State is left vulnerable. Panchayats across the State are going ahead with their different versions of lockdown is a clear indication of a lack of confidence in the policies and rules of the State government. The system has collapsed and healthcare has been pushed beyond boundaries. The situation cannot be manipulated anymore, because the fissures between the medical fraternity and the Covid managers are beginning to show. Very soon, we could see citizens knocking on the doors of the High Court to intervene and salvage the situation.
Sawant made a field trip to oxygen supplying units on Sunday, and that's very much welcome at a time when Goa is gasping. However, at this point, what is also important is for the CM to come clear on the way ahead. Dead bodies are piling and the situation is not abating. Every Goan has the right to know the plan of action because a major sense of insecurity of life has crept in.
