Govt should drop idea of community survey: Kamat

Margao: The government should immediately  drop the idea of  community survey,  and take pro-active steps to start community testing in the state as a step towards controlling the spread of COVID-19, said Leader of  Opposition Digambar Kamat, on Wednesday.

In a press note issued here, Kamat states that ”as we are nearing the end of 21-day lockdown period, it is high time the government comes out with a report giving details of actual number of testing done in Goa and the samples sent outside Goa. We need to know how many samples are tested on a daily basis and how much time is required to test each sample.”

He further stated that the medical fraternity and experts in virology have clearly emphasised on the need for community testing as an effective step towards controlling the spread of COVID-19.

Kamat is of the opinion that the government should also reveal its plan over its preparedness for taking up community testing.

“I also urge the government to give actual data of persons working as frontline workers and whether each one of them is provided with personal protection equipment (PPE). As the government has stated that various hospitals are being made ready for COVID pandemic, the availability of ventilators and other medical equipment including medicines in all the hospitals needs to be ascertained,” states the Leader of Opposition.

He stated that “it appears that the idea of community survey is without proper thought process. The persons undertaking survey may be exposed to the virus if they are not provided with PPE. The persons who will be sent for such survey also need to be tested first to ensure that they are not the carriers of the virus.”