PANAJI
Goa recorded 45 more Covid deaths on Tuesday raising the total Covid fatalities till date to 2,197. The Health Department also detected 1,358 new cases of infection from among 3,898 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The daily positivity rate stood at 34.8 per cent.
The state currently has 23,946 active cases of Covid-19.
Of the 45 deceased, 26 passed away at Goa Medical College and Hospital, 11 at South Goa District Hospital, three at a private hospital in South Goa, two at a private hospital in North Goa and one each at Hospicio, North Goa District Hospital and Sub District Hospital at Ponda. Three of the deceased had received their first dose of the Covid vaccine.
The Directorate of Health Services failed to provide the PHC-wise breakup of the active cases for the second consecutive day. Speaking to the media on Monday, Health Secretary Ravi Dhawan had cited the loss of internet connectivity at several health centres across the state due to cyclone Tauktae as an explanation for the inability of the DHS to provide this breakup.
Meanwhile, the Covid vaccination drive for the 45 and above category is still struggling to gain pace with only 136 beneficiaries from this age bracket stepping out to receive their second dose on Tuesday. The state government presently has a surplus of 2,00,560 doses of Covishield from the total allocation for the categories including healthcare workers, frontline workers and beneficiaries above 45 years of age.
Till date, a total of 2.5 lakh beneficiaries have received their first dose of the Covid vaccine whereas only 95,571 beneficiaries have been fully vaccinated.
The response from the 18-44 years age category for the vaccination drive has been overwhelming despite a measly allocation of 32,870 doses. These doses have been distributed in batches of 110 at each of the 36 centres which have opened for online scheduling for this age category since May 15. On Tuesday, the government opened slots at 36 centres for four more dates from May 19 to 22 with all doses being booked in less than an hour of opening of the portal.
However, the Health Secretary is on record that the allocation of the second batch of vaccine doses for the 18 to 44 years age category could be delayed from the central authorities owing to the underutilization of the allocation made previously in Goa for the 45 years and above category. As on Tuesday, the state government had 18,070 doses of Covishield vaccine allocated for the 18-44 years age category.
