PANAJI
Noted oncologist and former IMA Goa President Dr Shekhar Salkar has strongly advocated the need for reopening of schools saying it can be done some time after Ganesh Chaturthi.
“We must open schools 15 days after Ganesh Chaturthi as by that time we will know about the third wave and almost 75 per cent of Goans will get both the doses of the vaccine”, he said.
Stating that it should be in a hybrid way, Dr Salkar said parents who have online facilities can allow their children to attend online classes while those who have no access can come to school following all protocols and consent signed by parents.
“This way there will be controlled less crowd of children in schools with proper social distancing,” Dr Salkar said.
Dishing out comparative figures on Covid deaths and cases in the State, he said the total cases in May were 64,614 and deaths 1481, while in June the total cases were 11023 and deaths 327.
In July, the total cases were 4,457 and deaths 93. The death rate for July has seen a drastic decline which is the lowest in the last three months, he said.
“The death rate is 1.83 per cent. The internationally accepted death rates are 1.8 so Goa is on par with international standards,” Dr Salkar revealed.
Meanwhile, Goa recorded one death in the last 24 hours. A 67-year-old man from Agonda died of Covid taking the death toll of the State to 3,147. A total 5,580 people recovered from Covid this month.
