VASCO/PANAJI
For months, Vasco City was at the epicentre of Covid cases with hundreds of cases being reported and a number of containments zones being declared in the port town.
The numbers have, however, been on the decline in the last few weeks and the positive cases had dropped to 16 by Friday, according to the official health bulletin.
While Covid cases at the Vasco UHC have declined sharply, cases recorded by the Cansaulim PHC and Cortalim PHC have also dropped considerably.
On Friday, the health bulletin showed that the Covid cases in Mormugao taluka were below the 100-mark, with 69 active cases being recorded at the Vasco UHC (16), Cortalim PHC (17) and Cansaulim PHC (36).
However, doctors at the Chicalim SDH have advised people to be cautious and to continue taking all precautionary measures like social distancing, wearing of masks and sanitisation.
The Dean of Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim Dr S M Bandekar on Friday made a fervent plea to all frontline workers to come forward to accept the Covid-19 vaccine while assuring that the vaccine bears no adverse effect. Dr Bandekar made the statement after receiving his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, ‘CoviShield’.
Speaking to the media thereafter, Dr Bandekar stated, “I took the first dose of Covishield vaccine. There are no issues or problems with this vaccine. Most of the frontline workers who have taken this vaccine have no problem at all. Once again, I request all the frontline workers, doctors, nurses and the other high-risk people to come forward and take your vaccine as per the CoWin portal data.”
The Health Minister, who accompanied Dr Bandekar as he took his first jab, applauded the efforts of the team at the vaccination centre at GMC.
“There have been no cases of serious or severe side effects or death attributed to vaccination till date in Goa,” Rane said.
Meanwhile, 509 more Health Care Workers (HCWs) received the first dose of the vaccine in the state on Friday.
A total of 129 were vaccinated at GMCH, 61 at Dr Kedar Padte’s Hospital, 100 at Manipal Hospital, 97 at SMRC Hospital in Vasco, 100 at Hospicio and 22 at Ayurvedic College Shiroda.
One more Covid death on Friday
One more Covid related death was recorded in Goa taking the total Covid victim count to 766. The deceased person was a 72-year-old man from Ponda who passed away at GMCH.
A total of 78 new cases of the infection were detected from among the 1,620 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The total confirmed cases have now touched 53,263 of which 51,755 have recovered and 742 are presently active. The recovery rate stands at 97.17 per cent.
