The second wave of Covid-19 appears to be on the wane while States are gearing up for the third wave expected to hit in and around September-November. The pandemic protocol and standard operating procedures that were advocated right through appear to have been forgotten with citizens and tourists moving without masks, leave alone the social distancing, even as the government is paying lip service to caution.
While Goa is still reporting deaths in the range of 1 to 4 daily, and infection rate hovering between 1.4 to 2 per cent, the State appears to have put the worst behind, and moved on. People are back on the streets, markets and beaches, weekend tourism is in full flourish, nobody appears to be scared of crowds, the masks are coming off, and life is rapidly coming back to normalcy. Blame it on the frustration of being bottled inside due to long spells of lockdowns and restrictions, but the question is how safe is it?
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has advised caution ahead of the festive season and is planning to announce a new set of SOPs especially keeping the celebrations in mind. Also, the curfew is being extended periodically with the current curbs in force till August 23. The concern is writ large upon the government, but there are no measures in place to clamp down on the chaos on the ground. The curfew which is in force is a farce and meaningless. Setting deadlines for business establishments but allowing bars to remain open till 11 pm beats logic.
In a recent circular, higher secondary students are asked to take the physical mid-term examination when most of them have not completed their vaccination. So also there's a green signal for colleges to conduct physical classes while a decision is likely to come on normal schooling after the Ganesh festival. To top it all, the State has missed vaccination completion deadlines at least three times.
There is a lull, but Covid is not done yet. The US which was breathing easy a month back has suddenly seen a swell in cases. Last weekend the daily new cases shot up to 1,18,999, the highest since February this year. Daily deaths have also surged by 89 per cent in the past two weeks, and sadly the new spike has mainly targeted children. The Delta variant has pushed the US back into reworking its plans because there is a fear that even those vaccinated could be impacted.
Recently ten new cases of Delta Plus were detected in Maharashtra, taking the total number to 76 in the State. Out of the 10, six were from Kholapur, three from Ratnagiri and one from Sindhudurg bordering Goa.
Goa which is warming up to the 2022 Assembly elections has seen a flurry of political activity in the past few weeks, and the focus on Covid appears lost. While Sawant has ruled out recommencing tourism activities for now, there are no restrictions for tourists overcrowding at beaches or night parties. The series of late-night parties along the coastal belt has made a mockery of curbs and curfew. We only hope that the government doesn’t repeat the mistakes of the second wave.
