COVID: Baina to become mini-containment zone

NT NETWORK

Panaji

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday said the government has decided to declare Baina in Vasco, where COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in large numbers, as the mini-containment zone and surrounding localities as buffer zones.

Speaking to media persons, Sawant maintained that so far there have been two containment zones in the state – Mangor Hill (South Goa) and Morlem (North Goa).

“But considering the increasing COVID cases, we have decided to declare Baina as a mini-containment zone,” he explained.

Sawant said that district collectors and health teams have been working on creating mini-containment zone at Baina as the government wants to concentrate on symptomatic patients from there.

He further said that three stadiums will be converted into COVID care centres – the Manohar Parrikar stadium at Navelim, the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium at Bambolim and the Pernem stadium.

“The women patients will be kept at the Navelim stadium and men will be accommodated at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium. We are also segregating the patients so that their care can be taken systematically,” he explained.

He said that 95 per cent of our cases in the state are asymptomatic; they are shifted to COVID care centres at Shiroda, Calangute, Colva (North Goa) and the MPT Hospital (South Goa).

Goa’s testing capacity is around 2500 samples per day, he said, adding that “we are testing 29,000 per million which is highest in the country”.

He informed that three lakh people in the state have downloaded the Arogya Sethu app, which has now been connected to the police control room.

“We need to concentrate on education and awareness on the COVID-19. We have been conducting maximum testing and tracing to arrest the spread of COVID-19. We have set up the required health infrastructure,” he said.

The Chief Minister also said the government is eschewing designating educational institutions as COVID care centres as some exams are yet to be conducted.