MARGAO
Assailing the government for not being in mood to listen to the pleas of MLAs and citizens to extend the lockdown, Leader of Opposition and Margao MLA Digambar Kamat on Sunday requested city businessmen, traders, people engaged in small occupations from Margao to go for a voluntary lockdown for a week from Monday to break the chain of rapidly spreading Covid infections.
“My responsibility as a Member of Legislative Assembly from Margao Constituency is to ensure safety & security of Madgaonkars. I had already appealed to the Government to extend the lockdown in Goa, but it appears that irresponsible BJP government is in no mood to listen”, he said.
“I once again reiterate my demand that the need of the hour is to hand over the Covid management to a task force comprising of experts from civil society and Army. Enough is enough, let us not play with the innocent lives any more”, he said.
The Margao MLA said it is important that vaccines are procured on a war footing and vaccination drives initiated with a target to complete first dose by mid July. “The Task Force must be empowered with financial powers to take decisions in the best interest of the people”, he demanded.
Churchill wants 2-week extension
MARGAO: Benaulim MLA Churchill Alemao made a fervent plea to the government to extend the lockdown by at least two weeks to break the Covid chain.
He also requested Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and the Health Minister to send additional ventilators to the South Goa district hospital and to tone up supply of medical oxygen to the hospital.
“Patients at the South Goa district hospital are not getting ventilators as they are in short supply. So many patients have lost their lives for want of ventilators”, Churchill said, adding that the government should take steps to tone up the system at the district hospital to save lives.
“The death rates have gone up in the last few days. Cases are just rising across the state and one way to contain the further spread of the virus is to extend the lockdown”, he demanded.
GF calls for citizens' lockdown
MARGAO: Flaying the govt for not listening to calls for extension to the lockdown, Goa Forward Party instead gave a call for a lockdown to be imposed by citizens themselves.
“We appeal to all well-intentioned, concerned and responsible Goemkars that we all go for a citizens lockdown. A stay home.! Stay alive campaign for the next 15 days as we cannot afford to lose more Goemkars at the altar of politics and economics”, asserted the party chief Vijai Sardesai.
In the given grim scenario, it is crucial that all of us rise above our differences to say in one voice: Enough is enough, we don't want more Goemkars to die,” he said on Sunday.
Saying the GFP is in consonance with the advice of Dr Anthony Fauci, the World’s foremost American expert on Infectious Diseases, he has called for immediate measures such as lockdown, including minimizing human interacts and do whatever is possible to reduce the caseload.
“The government should for long term measures such as vaccination of the vulnerable at the earliest within the next one month. And vaccinate the 18-45 years old section on a systematic basis within the next three to six months depending on the availability of the vaccines”, he said.
