Two COVID cases in Camrabhat family

NT NETWORK

Taleigao

Health workers on Thursday took throat swab samples of 79 people as the COVID pandemic is raising its ugly head at Camrabhat, which is a densely populated slum in Taleigao on the outskirts of the state capital.

City mayor Uday Madkaikar told this daily that the people who underwent the COVID test included those who attended a party a couple of days ago in a house, which saw the first positive case in the area on Wednesday.

Madkaikar said that throat swab samples of all family members had been taken for test on Wednesday. However,   only two samples tested positive for the virus.

The COVID positive man works for the GMC while his wife is a sweeper and employed with the CCP. The woman tested negative for the pandemic.  However, their son tested positive, he informed.

Some 90 people from Camrabhat work for the CCP. They have been asked not report for duty considering the COVID situation in the area, which has been sealed. The residents of Camrabhat are all migrants, and came to Goa mostly from Karnataka decades ago.

The slum is home to over 500 families, who mostly do menial jobs for the municipal corporation. Taleigao sarpanch Agnelo D’Cunha said the panchayat sanitised a crematorium and other slum-like areas at Tonca, which are in the neighbourhood of Camrabhat.

All public toilets are also being disinfected and sanitised.

“Test results will ascertain whether the infection has spread or just restricted to a few houses. We hope test gives negative results,” the sarpanch said.