the goan I network
PANAJI
Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Friday disclosed that two of the 62 samples collected from the seafarers presently quarantined at a hotel in Patto, Panaji are being retested due to some technical snag. The remaining 60 seafarers have tested negative, Rane has confirmed.
The seafarers from ‘Marella Discovery’ had reached Goa earlier this week after completing their sign off procedure at Mumbai Port. All 62 seafarers had previously tested negative for Covid-19 at Mumbai Port. The test was conducted as part of the procedure laid down by the Director General of Shipping.
“Samples of 62 sailors were tested at the Virology lab in GMC. 60 samples were reported negative. Due to a technical snag, two samples will be retested, reports of which are awaited,” Rane tweeted. He, however, did not specify the nature of the ‘technical snag’ and did not state whether the two samples in question had tested positive at the virology laboratory of Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim.
The seafarers will remain quarantined at the facility in Panaji for a period of 14 days, following which they will be allowed to go home.
Meanwhile, the Health Minister also applauded the efforts of Goa’s doctors and frontline workers and credited them for Goa being listed as a ‘green zone’ by the Government of India. “Let us continue to pursue this war against COVID-19 by following all social distancing norms and guidelines laid down by central government,” he said.
