CANACONA
Fearing a strict 15-day statewide curfew, people rushed to make stock up on provisions and essential supplies since Friday evening.
Though the State government has permitted grocery shops and pharmacies to remain open for the first half of the day, residents feared a restriction in movement during the curfew.
People rushed to make purchases in Chaudi, the commercial hub of Canacona, with a number of grocery shops and many outlets almost running out of supplies and unable to replenish their stocks.
The situation was no different in villages as most grocery shops sold essential supplies like sugar, rice, flour, eggs and milk within no time on Saturday.
While grocery shops will remain open for the first half of the day, people feared a shortage of vegetables, fish and milk during the curfew as Canacona relies on most of these supplies from neighbouring Karwar.
Meanwhile, Covid cases continue to rise in Canacona, with 79 fresh cases being detected on Saturday.
However, a large number of recoveries (263) on Saturday brought down the number to 604 active Covid cases.
With the number of daily new cases still high in the taluka, sources said the Canacona Community Health Centre (CHC) has appealed to all elected representatives in panchayats and the municipality as well as social workers to take note of the official list of Covid patients and to take steps to prevent Covid patients from moving in public spaces.
“Some are not aware whether they are positive or not and they should isolate themselves for 10 days till they fully recover. The situation is going now out of control and there is tremendous pressure on health workers and medical facilities,” said the source.
Meanwhile, the CHC has also requested asking all those who have completed their home isolation and have recovered to hand over their oximeter and thermometer to the nearest Health sub-centres, so that they can be handed over to other patients in need of these items.
