Strict curbs in Calangute, Candolim from today till May 9

CALANGUTE: The tourism hotspots of Calangute, Candolim and Arpora-Nagoa, which have been grappling with a surge in Covid-19 cases, will be treated as containment zones for 10 days beginning Thursday.
A formal order in this regard is yet to be issued. While all essential services will function as usual during this period, groceries, food outlets and markets will remain open only from 6am to 1pm.
Ports minister and local MLA Michael Lobo, who made the announcement during an emergency meeting with the sarpanchs of the Calangute, Candolim and Arpora-Nagoa panchayats and government officials at Candolim on Wednesday, said people within the containment zones must not move out unless it is absolutely necessary. “We are asking the people to cooperate with us. They should also keep their children at home and should not allow them to go out and play,” he said.
All hotels in the tourism hub will not entertain fresh bookings until further notice, Lobo said. “Visitors who are presently staying in hotels will have to continue residing there till their period of stay is over. No tourists are coming anyway,” he said.
The minister, who had last month said that stricter SOPs should not be imposed on tourists and that they should not be hindered from coming to Goa, on Wednesday said, “If necessary, the state government should start testing people entering the state at the borders and make Covid-negative certificates mandatory to get into the state.”
He said over1,400 active Covid-19 cases have been registered within the jurisdiction of the Candolim primary health centre (PHC) and that there were likely to be many more as several family members of Covid-positive patients had still not been tested. “We are in a difficult time. Many people have also died. We have to take steps to stop the virus from spreading further,” he said. Hence, everything except pharmacies, etc, will be shut from 1 pm on Thursday Medical officer of the Candolim PHC, Dr Roshan Nazareth, who was also present at the meeting along with Bardez deputy collector Mamu Hage, SDPO Nelson Albuquerque and Calangute PI Nolasco Raposo, said it was not possible for the PHC’s staff to monitor all the Covid-19 patients in home isolation and requested the panchayats to provide volunteers as had been done during the initial stages of the pandemic.
All three panchayats agreed to comply and said they would appeal to residents to volunteer their services. Lobo also promised to provide a private ambulance along with a driver and helper to help bolster the government’s stretched ambulance service.