Goa to test every single train passenger for Covid: Government

MARGAO: As special trains begin to arrive in Goa this week, the state government said on Monday that every single passenger will be tested for Covid-19. South Goa district collector Ajit Roy said that although he was yet to receive any official communication with regards to the arrival of the train in Goa, facilities would be put in place for testing all passengers for Covid-19.
Unlike in other states, where passengers are subjected to just screening, where only their body temperatures are noted and they checked for symptoms, if any, Roy said that in Goa, all passengers entering the state will be made to undergo the Covid test. “Goa is following a better and stricter control regimen,” Roy said.
“Whenever any train comes here, we will make detailed arrangements for subjecting all passengers to Covid tests,” Roy said. “We will take all the passengers to one location, where their throat swabs will be taken. They will then be accommodated in quarantine facilities. They will only be discharged when their tests return negative.”
The South Goa district administration and Konkan Railway are now gearing up to put in place logistics, medical facilities and quarantine arrangements for the passengers. The first such train – among the 30 pairs of trains scheduled to start from May 12 – will arrive from New Delhi on May 15, and will depart on its return journey to the capital on May 17.
Sources in the district administration said that additional quarantine facilities will be set up in view of the arrival of a large number of passengers by train. “We have some hotels, government-owned as well as private, already taken in our possession. Some more may be requisitioned once a plan works out,” a senior official of the district administration said.
All facilities will be put in place at least two days ahead of the arrival of the first train, official sources said.