Goa must adopt successful COVID containment strategies
THE Goa government maintains that it has been employing a correct COVID containment strategy. However, the spike in infection is not reversed in the state and mortality is going up. Is not there a need for Goa to learn from the states whose COVID management strategies have proven more efficacious? Delhi offers a model. In an interview with this newspaper Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said Goa can contain the virus by adopting best practices. According to Kejriwal, detection of 350 to 400 cases on a daily basis in Goa indicates a positivity rate of 20 per cent which is too high a figure for a state with a population of just over 15 lakhs. Delhi had witnessed a surge initially, but it managed to bring it under control during the lockdown. The numbers shot up after the restrictions imposed during the lockdown began to be withdrawn in phases. The surge was higher than the figure expected by his government. However, the Delhi government brought the situation under control by timely action and adoption of strategies which were not used in any other state. The efforts paid off and Delhi is now seeing about a thousand cases daily as against 4,000 plus during the peak period.
While Delhi managed to bring down the positivity rate to just six per cent, Goa is struggling on that count. Delhi has a very high recovery ratio of 90 per cent, the highest in the country, as against 72.65 percent in Goa. Delhi, much like Goa, followed the guidelines issued by the central government, but it became more successful, because it employed a very effective virus containment strategy by strictly imposing restrictions in the containment zones and ensuring that the containment means containment.
Goa managed to keep the coronavirus positive cases to a mere seven during the lockdown period, all of which were imported. However, unlike Delhi, Goa apparently did not prepare itself to deal with the surge that was expected with the easing of restrictions on inter-state movement with the unlocking. Cases began to shoot up in the state after the restrictions were removed and the authorities did not have comprehensive and finely tuned plans to deal with the situation and did little to contain the spike. The state committed another blunder by not ordering lockdown in the Mormugao taluka where scores of cases were reported, especially in the Mangor Hill area. The failure to take timely action for containment has resulted in the spread of the virus all over the state, with the number of cases reported daily remaining very high. If the present trend continues, Goa, which has already recorded nearly 13,800 cases, could soon see one per cent of its population affected by the virus.
It is not Delhi alone that has done better than other states in containing the spread of coronavirus. Nearer home, Dharavi in Mumbai also has become a model for other areas and cities to follow, especially those with slum populations where the basic rules of social distancing, mask wearing and hand hygiene are hard to follow in view of the congestion, small living spaces for families, common toilets and no running water in the homes. Kerala, which is a larger state than Goa, has done better than many states from the very beginning, and continues to perform well in its containment programme and keeping mortality low. The political, administrative and health authorities of Goa need to study the strategies used by Delhi, Maharashtra, Kerala and other states and adopt them to bring the situation under control. The state authorities have been warning the people that infection was likely to peak in the days ahead, so they need to be ready with good strategies to deal with it. Like Delhi, Goa should also order sero surveys frequently covering a sizable number of its population which will provide an insight into the spread of the virus and help the health authorities in drawing up the best strategies to deal with the anticipated peak. Though belated, the state government has now put the infrastructure in place to tackle the complex issues of treatment of comorbid patients infected by the coronavirus. The state government must redesign its strategy to meet other gaps in COVID management.