People from Goa’s COVID hotspot up in arms

Tempers ran high in the COVID containment zone at Mangor Hill in Vasco on Friday as people came out of their houses protesting the non-availability of essentials, whose home delivery had been promised by the government.

People claimed that they did not receive essentials on Friday, which made them protest within the containment zone.

Moreover COVID testing was not carried out in the zone on Friday, which resulted in confusion as people believed that slowdown in the COVID testing could put their lives in risk.

However, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday claimed that the government has provided free rations for eight days to 350 families from the containment zone, and is supplying other essentials on daily basis.

“We did not receive essentials on Friday, which forced us to come out of our houses as a mark of protest,” a man said on the condition of anonymity.  The man claimed that hundreds of people living in the containment zone have been going without food since Monday after the sudden sealing of the area.

However, relatives of some of the people living in the containment zone have risen to the occasion, providing groceries to the hapless people.  “A policeman turned a good Samaritan towards us, and we could buy some groceries on Thursday. However, we could not get the essentials on Friday… we had believed in the government’s promise of home delivery   of groceries in the containment zone,” the man said.

Inspector-general of police Jaspal Singh on Friday visited the containment zone and took stock of the situation.