It should not be shocking when Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced on Wednesday that 37 returnees from the United Kingdom have tested positive for Covid-19. Given the grim situation in the UK and elsewhere where countries are under lockdown with the new strain spreading panic, the spike in cases was expected sooner or later. The bigger worry is over the government not paying enough attention to the threat held out by new variants of the virus.
Concerns about the Covid variant were made public on December 14 when the Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that the new strain was accountable for 1000 cases in London and southeast England. While quoting an initial analysis, Hancock said the variant is growing faster than the existing virus. Last week there was another variant detected in Nigeria. Several countries immediately swung into action stepping up vigil and screening. Some States in India resorted to precautionary measures with night curfews imposing restrictions on free movement.
What did the Goa government do? While there was panic elsewhere, Goa was basking in the tourism season, allowing visitors the liberty of running amok on beaches and other places, while completely failing to tighten SOPs for inbound traffic from the UK. The Centre announced the suspension of flights between December 23 and 31, now extended till January 7, but before this period there was a steady flow of passengers rushing back to Goa because offices and business establishments were shut in the UK. Due to joblessness and the high costs of living, it made better sense for them to return to their families till the situation normalizes.
Ironically, we have not learnt lessons from past failures and once again authorities failed to step up vigilance to pre-empt the new variant from slipping in. The sluggishness in showing as authorities struggle to reach out to those who travelled before December 23. Even as Goa is gearing up to usher in the New Year with pomp and revelry, many are not called for testing yet, neither have travellers volunteered to come forward keeping health concerns of self and others in the family in mind. Picture a situation where UK returnees alighted on December 14 being called for testing a good 16 days later on December 30. How does this make any sense? The government for the insensitivity it has shown so far must take the blame if the situation spirals out of control once again. What is even more surprising is that lessons haven’t been learned from the Mangor Hill lapses that triggered a Covid wave in April.
Apparently, even on the eve of Christmas when the world was shivering over reports of the new virus strain, the government was still undecided over the status of its first Covid hospital at Margao. The machinery is now picking up pace with more UK returnees facing the tests, but the question is whether crucial time is lost. The detection and tracking that is currently happening could be a start-point of yet another disaster-in-waiting because people have freely interacted, greeted, wined and dined together with friends and families right through the festive season. While reports are being awaited from NIV, Pune, Goans can only hold on to a thin thread of hope.
