Goa's positivity rate dips slightly, but 55 more die

PANAJI: Goa’s positivity rate marginally dropped to 46% on Saturday with 3,751 new infections, but the second wave continued to wreak havoc, claiming 55 more lives.
“Covid is not at our doorsteps but has entered our homes,” said IMA-Goa president Dr Vinayak Buvaji, in a grim assessment of the situation in the state.
However, despite the ferocity of the pandemic, citizens on Saturday made a beeline to grocery stores to stock up, ignoring Covid protocols and chief minister Pramod Sawant’s repeated assurances that shops selling essentials wouldn’t be shut.
The day’s toll included as many as five persons in their 30s. Also, 11 patients died within 24 hours of admission.
Even as cases mount in urban Goa, several deaths were reported from villages, indicating community spread there too.
Meanwhile, the recovery rate fell further to 70.7%, and in a first, over 3,000 persons were declared recovered in a single day.
However, the tally of active cases continued to grow, with the count soaring to 32,387.
Meanwhile, the ministry of health and family welfare stated that a Covid-positive certificate is not mandatory for admission into a Covid health facility.
“No person shall be refused services on any count,” it stated. “This includes medications such as oxygen or essential drugs even if the patient belongs to a different city. No person shall be refused admission on the ground that he/she is not able to produce a valid identity card that does not belong to the city where the hospital is located,” the ministry stated.
The ministry added that no hospital beds must be occupied by those who don’t require it, and that discharges should be in accordance with a revised discharge policy.