PANAJI
Even as the Centre has raised the specter of Covid-19 and asked States to tighten their belts in the face of massive spikes in cases reported in China and some other countries, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday said no restrictions will be imposed in the State till January 2 in view of the festive season.
"Presently I don’t feel the need to impose any restrictions...We are alert and observing the situation,” Sawant said.
The Chief Minister said appropriate action to be taken will be decided on January 3 based on the evolving situation with respect to daily cases in Goa and the country besides other developments.
Sawant made the statements after attending a meeting on Covid preparedness where Health Minister Vishwajit Rane was also present.
“Masks are voluntary, not compulsory,” Sawant said even as he urged people to follow Covid-19 appropriate behaviour.
Currently the State is conducting approximately 600 tests daily and just one or two samples are found to be positive.
As of Friday, the DHS bulletin has said that Goa has 15 active Covid cases and one more person has tested positive from among the 487 samples that were tested.
Meanwhile, the State administration has mandated random testing of 2% of international passengers arriving at the airport. The samples will also be sent for genome sequencing, Sawant said, adding that the surge in Covid cases across the globe has necessitated random testing of international travelers.
Rane, meanwhile, said a mock drill will be conducted in hospitals in the Sate on December 27 to test emergency response to deal with Covid cases. The mock drill is being held as per Union Health Ministry instructions.
He also said random testing will be done on passengers arriving on international flights. “People should not panic, but adopt Covid-appropriate behaviour in their day-to-day life”, he said.
Rane further said the State government has urged the Centre to send booster doses of the Covid vaccine. He said 53 per cent of the population is so far covered with the (booster) dose.
Goa will be receiving a large number of tourists for Christmas and New Year festivities, he said, appealing to citizens to wear masks to avoid getting infected if there is a spread of the virus.
