Goa: Doctors on frontline advise against get-togethers for next 2-3 weeks

PANAJI: As Covid cases emerge from attendees of lockdown weddings and gatherings over the past few weeks, health workers advise against get-togethers, even intimate ones, in this time of crisis.
“Social events are a big no for the next couple of weeks at least. What can be avoided should be avoided and what can be postponed must be,” deputy director of health services Dr Ira Almeida told TOI.
At a time when the small state is witnessing up to 79 Covid cases a day, get-togethers and events not only cause undue stress to family members, but are burdening the health infrastructure.
Panchayats and health workers have found that the recent cases include those who let their guard down while celebrating birthdays. Other cases had links to backyard wedding celebrations and associated get-togethers and participated in religious group sessions in a small premises and no masks were used.
“People chanting loudly in an enclosed room is the worst thing you can ask for. No place where a large number of people are gathered is safe. The cases spread in Mangor Hill because residents lived in houses close to each other. In some cases, they spread due to social gatherings,” an official said.
Recently, several close relatives of a newly-married couple and wedding attendees tested positive. Almost all of them were asymptomatic and didn’t feel the need to be tested. The panchayat’s intervention helped convince the invitees and family members to get tested and admitted after testing positive.
In such crucial times, all social obligations must be done away with, frontline workers said.
“Unnecessary visiting of relatives and friends should be avoided. Social practices of visiting someone sick in hospital or someone who delivered a baby, thinking they may feel hurt, or going to wish someone on their birthday or anniversary must all be stopped. This is not required. People can use social media instead,” a frontline worker said.
“You can never let your guard down even when meeting close friends or relatives or colleagues. The comfort level is much more here and the tendency is to lower one’s mask thinking the other person is clean. One doesn’t know where who went the day before,” a doctor at a Covid care centre said.
Laughing and talking loudly, both common at get-togethers are risky as they increase the velocity, spread and reach of the droplets, Dr Almeida said. “The use of masks is very important. Social distancing must be followed at all times,” she said.