Mangor Hill is Goa’s first containment zone as two test +ve, 5 under scanner

PANAJI: Vasco’s Mangor Hill area was declared a containment zone on Monday after a fisherman and wife tested positive for Covid-19. The couple’s daughter-in-law, two sons—one a policeman—and two others, a neighbour and a local doctor, also tested positive in the screening test, and their confirmatory test results are awaited.
“Since it is a tightly-packed area, we have decided to declare it a containment zone,” said health secretary Nila Mohanan.
Ruling out community transmission, she said the area has been declared a containment zone “out of abundant caution” and there should be no fear among the people of a possible spread.
She also said that it hasn’t yet been established if the two new positive cases had travel history, and that inquiries were still being made.
Meanwhile, three others from North Goa, all of whom travelled from Maharashtra, have also come positive in the screening and thier confirmatory tests are also awaited, health officials said.
Health minister Vishwajit Rane said since the fisherman visited godowns to purchase fish that was brought from Andhra Pradesh, a lot of contact tracing will need to be done.
A health official said he suspects that the man could likely have picked up the infection from his counterparts across the border, as he routinely engaged with them when buying fish.
Mohanan said the health department has commenced concentrated contact tracing, and all efforts were being made to see that links and possible contacts are established.
“There will be comprehensive testing of the people of Mangor Hill. All measures are being put in place to contain any risk to people residing outside Mangor Hill,” she said, adding that anyone in the area with a persistent fever should immediately contact the nearest health centre.
“We are doing contact tracing and it would be premature at this stage to say that community transmission has happened,” she said.
The health department would declare community transmission only after proper contact tracing is done, and there is a difference between community and local transmission, the health secretary said.
Rane said he would have a detailed discussion with the health secretary on Tuesday morning about the measurers to be taken in view of the new development.
“Having a containment zone is also a first-time experience for us,” Rane said. “We will see that there is no community transmission. Strict measures will be put in place to test each person residing in the containment zone.”
Superintendent of police and Goa police PRO Shobhit Saxena said the force was in the process of identifying immediate contacts of the constable whose father tested positive for Covid-19. The policeman had not been on field duty, Saxena said.
Police sources said the constable was last on duty on May 29. He did not report on May 30 and 31, they said. “The entire police station has been sanitised and swabs of all policemen have been sent for testing,” they said.
“From Tuesday, the entire staff at the police station will not undertake any community duty,” they said.
In the newly-declared containment zone, Vasco, Mormugao and Verna police deployed personnel to ensure no movement in the entire area. The road from Varunapuri junction to Ayyappa temple, and from there to St Therese high school, has been blocked.
“Some people have approached us saying they visited the doctor who tested positive for Covid-19,” said Mormugao Municipal Council chief officer Gourish Sankhwalkar. “We have isolated them, and they will be tested on Tuesday.”
Police inspector Paresh Naik, in charge of the Vasco police station, said police would ensure that people remain indoors, and that no outsider is allowed in the area for 15 days.
Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida, attempting to reassure the people of his constituency, said “nobody should be scared”.
“Ward no. 17 will be sanitised. Everyone staying in the containment zone will be checked,” he said.
Late on Monday, Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) issued a memo, asking all employees who live within the containment zone not to report to office and to work from home.
TOI also learnt that household help from the area were asked by their employers not to report to work.
(With inputs from Ruvina Khan and Nisser Dias)