the goan I network
MARGAO
The South Goa district administration is mulling an advisory to the citizens of the district in the wake of the Nipah virus taking a toll of human lives in Kerala, even as the Konkan Railway Corporation has been told to be vigilant vis-Ã -vis food served in the trains running on its tracks and to take steps to identify an isolation centre as a precautionary measure.
Even as state epidemiologist Dr Utkarsh Betodkar maintained that the Directorate of Health Services have till date not received any specific guidelines from the central health agency, which has been monitoring the Kerala situation, South Goa district Collector, Anjali Sehrawat held a high level meeting in the South Goa district Collectorate on Tuesday evening to take stock of the situation arising out of the deaths claimed by the Nipah virus in Kerala.
Sources said that issuing an advisory to take precautions while consuming pork and fruits with scratches spotted on the surface is being considered as a matter of abundant caution by the district administration.
Given that trains run on the Konkan railway tracks from Kerala to Goa almost every day, Konkan railway officials, who attended the meeting, were asked to remain on alert, especially vis-Ã -vis food served in the trains.
“We have asked the KR officials to immediately go into action if they come across suspected cases at the railway stations. The KR has been told to explore the possibility of identifying an isolation facility to isolate people with suspected Nipah cases,” informed an official in the know.
The district administration is also waiting for the Director of health services to come out with the latest developments on the Nipah virus.
“Setting up an isolation ward at the district level will be taken into account only after the DHS takes a call on the situation,” a senior district administration official told The Goan after the meeting.
