SEC flounders on SOPs, and Goa CM endorses the goof

PANAJI: On Saturday when the state executive committee announced a set of extremely diluted protocols for domestic travellers, promptly tweeted by chief minister Pramod Sawant, it left Goans wondering if the state had floundered when it really mattered.
The SOPs that the SEC proposed and was endorsed by Sawant was in complete contrast to the protocol followed by the state and in variance with health minister Vishwajit Rane’s proposal for an antibody testing.
“We are throwing away our efforts of the past two months. Majority of the travellers who tested positive for the virus are domestic travellers,” said senior officials privy to the discussions.
The SEC has continuously toed the line drawn by the ministry of home affairs (MHA) in following SOPs, even as the states are free to strengthen its testing mechanism without diluting its guidelines.
In fact, the SEC took a different stand from that of Rane, who has been insisting that all passengers should be tested.
Within an hour of Rane’s tweet on Saturday, health secretary Nila Mohanan announced that air passengers will be given an option to choose home quarantine of 14 days or produce a Covid negative certificate.
One of the senior officials said the state can manage screening of air passengers with TrueNat as well and logistic can be arranged.
“But there has to be a will on the part of the government,” he said.
With Goa seeing its highest single day spike of 11 cases, all domestic travellers, the government came under a barrage of criticism from all quarters. In a hurriedly convened press briefing late on Sunday evening, Sawant along with Rane tried to put up a joint front and came out with a fresh set of protocols.
That the regular SEC briefing was cancelled, after the members realised late in the day that it was Sunday, left nothing much to guess that things didn’t go according to the script, said another official.
“It will be difficult to manage the situation if the number of cases continue to rise at today’s rate,” said a senior doctor at Goa Medical College. “Already, 50 beds of the Covid-19 hospital are occupied and a jump in cases may be by 50 or even 100 will bring the state healthcare under tremendous strain. Where are we going to admit the patients if there is a community transmission and where are the doctors to treat them?”
Opposition leader Digambar Kamat said there is a real danger of community transmission. “In times of crises, all differences should be kept aside to fight the virus,” he said.
Kamat also said the BJP-led government has not taken the opposition into confidence over the fight against Covid-19. “Our last meeting with the chief minister on Covid-19 was on March 24, when the lockdown was announced. We have not been consulted since then,” he said.