Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has finally blinked, but the symbolic partial lockdown from Thursday night to Monday morning has reduced the exercise into a farce because on this scale the chain of transmission cannot be broken in a little over three days.
While it is understandable that essential services will continue uninterrupted as well as grocery services, what is mystifying is Sawant’s refusal to put any curbs along borders which are currently the gateways of the virus. With neighbouring States teeming with Covid cases, the prime focus should have been on imposing stringent measures at the borders on the lines of the first phase of 2020.
The lockdown in its current form is baffling because it has briefly shut only a few sectors but allowed others to function following SOPs. Weddings and religious events can go on as per protocol, bars and restaurants can keep kitchens open for home deliveries and the industrial sector remains unaffected. Why is the CM still banking heavily on enforcement of protocol? If we may recall, Sawant inaugurated a bridge at his home constituency of Sanquelim on Wednesday in the presence of a large gathering in complete violation of Covid protocol. Time and again, senior political leaders who are supposed to be ambassadors in this Covid fight have turned out to be violators themselves.
Despite 160 people dying in a week and the infection rate scaling past 2,000 daily, CM's strong disinclination for tighter and longer lockdown is appalling. Why would any head of a State continue to take chances at a stage where dozens of lives are snatched away every single day? Why would any CM gamble with half-hearted measures when innocent lives, including those of youngsters, are at stake? Why is there no serious clampdown to salvage the situation?
Are the people of Goa becoming victims of the cold war between the Chief Minister and the Health Minister that is playing in the background? Surprisingly, the health minister's fear of a daily death toll of nearly 200 in May and his call for a 15-day lockdown had no takers. The fact that he retracted his views a day later is another story. Lest we forget, the health minister’s earlier proposals have been trashed too, including the one of making Covid certificate mandatory for visitors. Sawant appears to be more amused with tourism-linked Waste Management Minister and Calangute MLA Michael Lobo proposal of a restricted lockdown.
Leaving aside the politics, a tighter and an extended lockdown would have given an over-stretched and fatigued healthcare sector a much-needed breather. The doctors, nurses and other frontline workers desperately need a break from their round-the-clock routine. Also, a lockdown of two weeks would have given time for stock-taking. The lockdown in its current form will not help in breaking transmission given the alarming rate at which it is striking. Let’s not forget, Goa has opted for a longer and stricter lockdown in 2020 when the rate of infection and mortality was much lower.
The Covid situation is alarming across the nation and we continue to see heart-wrenching sites of patients struggling for beds, oxygen and medical attention, of funeral pyres burning in nooks and corners. Goa’s situation is turning very grim. The pressure on infra is showing as the State continues to grapple with hospital beds, medical staff, facilities and oxygen. Test reports are generated after 5 days keeping suspects guessing.
It's time CM seriously introspects on the pain which Goans are going through right now. It's time to be ruthless in this fight against Covid rather than count the dead and wait for the storm to pass by. The lockdown in its current form appears to be a mini-holiday for a few and could do more harm than good to the State.
