Goa: Up to ten new Covid-19 cases daily in Mangor Hill, may touch zero after 20 days

PANAJI: A fortnight after becoming Goa’s first containment zone, Mangor Hill, Vasco continues to see a steady five to 10 fresh cases every day. Health officials said that it would likely be another 15 to 20 days before the cases touched zero.
As of Thursday, the area has reported 172 cases in all with no steep rise seen since mid-last week.
“There is no steep rise in cases. Every day a few cases get detected,” medical officer at the sub-district hospital, Chicalim, Dr Rajendra Borkar said.
Every day, swabs samples of 40 to 50 persons are taken and Borkar said they were focusing on those in risk groups, like children below five years, the elderly, pregnant women, and those suffering from comorbid conditions.
With more that 15 staff of the Vasco urban health centre contracting the virus, activities at urban health centre have been temporarily stopped. The running of the out-patient department (OPD) at Mangor Hill and collection of swab samples in the containment zone and other parts of Vasco is being done by 175 sub-district hospital staff.
Being on a duty in a containment zone, the staff cannot go home until their duty is completed or their replacement arrives. All have been asked to stay in a hotel provided by the government. The measure was adopted after a couple of health workers picked up the infection while on duty at Mangor Hill and passed it on to their family members and others.
Health workers and others will be tested after 14 days to check for infection.
For Borkar and other senior officials there are no fixed duty hours and they are not begrudging it. “It is a battle-like situation and we are doing our best,” Borkar said.