Stay Home Goa

GOA: The first week of May has seen more Goans die of Covid-19 than in the first seven months of the pandemic. That Goa is facing an unprecedented public health crisis is now beyond doubt, aided and abetted by a dithering government that let things get out of hand. For weeks, this newspaper has been demanding the government strictly enforce its rules and take responsibility for the lives of the people.
Unfortunately, for reasons best known to it, it refused to acknowledge the ferocity of the pandemic. Since then, the virus has decimated the state and its healthcare infrastructure. Goa’s positivity rate remains over 50%, making the state perhaps the most affected area in the world. The daily scenes of death at hospital wards have left even doctors facing mental trauma.
While there was no shortage of misplaced overconfidence from the government, there seems to be a shortage of everything else—oxygen, home isolation kits, pulse oximeters, and most importantly, strategy. In short, if you need medical attention right now, you may not get it. In the absence of a capable government, it’s now every person for themselves. To slightly misquote the CM, ‘bhonvpachi garaz na’ (there’s no need to roam). It’s imperative to stay home at all costs, and venture outside only if unavoidable.
Goa has among the highest proportion of senior citizens in the country, and this category remains the most vulnerable to the virus. The government must now focus on vaccination and do everything in its power to get vaccines into arms. It can perhaps take a leaf out of Mumbai's book, and start drive-through vaccination points. There is a fear of getting infected by the virus at vaccination centres. To combat this, the government could also use large open spaces, such as the Campal grounds, for vaccination. Door-to-door administration of the jab is also something it could take up with the Centre, citing Goa’s special case. The next few weeks look bleak, and citizens cannot and must not accept 50-60 deaths a day as a “new normal”.