Panaji: Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) chairman Bharat Bhushan Nagpal retired on Saturday after a three and a half year stint at the helm as the chairman and managing director of the government-owned shipyard. GSL’s finance director T N Sudhakar has been given additional charge as the interim chairman and managing director. Nagpal, who joined GSL in 2016 as director for corporate planning and business development took charge as chairman and managing director in December 2018 and has since sustained the shipyard’s growth and expansion. GSL’s order book stands at Rs 14,670 crore, it’s highest ever, and under Nagpal’s watch, GSL has also forayed into new business lines including development of autonomous vessels and the use of artificial intelligence in shipbuilding and maintenance in partnership with the private sector. During Nagpal’s tenure, GSL concluded the contract for five offshore patrol vessel (OPVs) and also commenced construction of the two stealth guided-missile frigates for the Indian Navy. GSL is also building two indigenous pollution control vessels and eight fast patrol vessels for the Indian Coast Guard and a floating dock for the Sri Lankan Navy. During his service, Nagpal laid special emphasis on corporate social responsibility, extending support to local communities and the government and working towards a link up with academia and start-up incubation centres. During the pandemic, he offered to help the state government with isolation and quarantine centres and also contributed Oxygen production plants and ventilator units to the government.
Staff ReporterVascoCommodore Bharat Bhushan Nagpal, NM, Indian Navy (Retd), Chairman & Managing Director, Goa Shipyard Limited has superannuated on Saturday and has relinquished charge as CMD of one of the premier Defence Shipyardsof India.Commodore Nagpal joined Goa Shipyard in 2016 as Director (Corporate Planning and Business Development) following a distinguished career of 32 years as a Naval Architect Officer with the Indian Navy. He took charge as Chairman and Managing Director of Goa Shipyard on December 1, 2018 and has since spearheaded the Yard ensuring sustained growth and expansion.Under his leadership and the commitment of Yard employees, Goa Shipyard continued its track record of ensuring on-time delivery of vessels successfully concluding the 05 Offshore Patrol Vessel order for the Indian Coast Guard despite disruptions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The yard signed the contract for two P1135.6 missile frigates for the Indian Navy and commenced production in record-time for the largest and most complex warship building project undertaken by GSL.GSL has also established its position as a competitive shipbuilding and refit brand in domestic and export market. Cmde Nagpal’s tenure saw the yard bag several orders on a competitive basis from the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, the Indian Army, state administration and foreign friendly countries. In recent months alone, GSL has commenced the construction of two indigenous Pollution Control Vessels, signed a contract for 08 Fast Patrol Vessels for the Indian Coast Guard and construction of a floating dock for SriLanka Navy.On his superannuation, Cmde Nagpal expressed his profound gratitude to all employees and workers of Goa Shipyard, the Unions and the Ministry of Defence..for their unwavering support and commitment that has ensured that the Yard continues to reach new heights.
Panaji: Goa reported six new Covid cases on Friday with nil hospitalisations and nil deaths. A total of 469 samples were tested with a case positivity rate of 1.28%. Goa’s case positivity rate crossed the one percent mark twice this week, after several weeks. Active cases are at 44, the highest since April 2. Goa’s weekly positivity rate is 0.94% for North Goa and 0.82% for South Goa between April 22 and April 28.
Staff ReporterPanajiThe number of COVID cases doubled in Goa on Wednesday with the detection of 14 fresh cases.On Tuesday, Goa had logged seven fresh cases at a positivity rate of 1.23%.The test positivity rate recorded on Wednesday is 0.97% and the tally of active cases has risen to 39 in the state.Fortunately, no new death linked to the dreaded virus was reported in the last 24 hours.Two patients were declared as recovered in the last 24 hours andthe overall recovery rate in the state continues to be at 98.43%.The confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Goa currently stand at 2,45,409 of which 2,41,538 patients have defeated the deadly disease. Till date, 3,832 patients have died due to COVID-19 in the state.Meanwhile, amid a rise in fresh COVID-19 cases across the country, the public health department on Wednesday issued an advisory asking citizens to continue wearing masks at all public places.In an official communiqué, the department has urged people to continue observing all appropriate COVID behaviour as important preventivemeasures against the virus.It is pertinent to note that on Monday the expert committee of doctors had opined that the emergence of fourth COVID wave cannot be ruled out and hadrecommended wearing of face masks in public places and closed rooms.
Panaji: Goa reported six new cases of Covid infections and nil deaths on Sunday. With this, the total number of positive cases has now gone up to 25. Meanwhile, a total of 711 samples were tested and the case positivity rate currently stands at 0.84%. The state has reported 3,832 Covid deaths, 2.45 lakh cases and over 31,000 hospitalisations since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. Goa’s recovery rate stands at 98.43 percent.
Panaji: After several weeks Goa’s Covid-19 case positivity rate, that had stayed below 1%, went up to 1.2% on Tuesday. During the day, seven new cases were detected for 567 samples tested. There were no deaths and no hospitalisations. TNN
Panaji: Goa’s weekly positivity rate is below 1%, but slightly above the national average. South Goa reported a weekly positivity rate of 0.8% and North Goa 0.7% between April 15 to 21. The national average, meanwhile, stands at around 0.4%. And while the case positivity rate for the country stands at 0.5%, in Goa it is 0.2%. Goa reported two Covid cases on Saturday with 882 samples tested. The count of Covid deaths and hospitalisations continue to be nil. The count of active Covid cases was at 22 and has continued to remain under the 50-mark for around a month now. Goa’s recovery rate stands at 98.4%.
PANAJI: Goa's Covid case positivity rate stood at 8.6% with 259 new cases registered on Wednesday. With six fatalities, the toll rose to 3,760 while the active caseload reduced to 3,528. Eleven persons were hospitalised and 258 went on home isolation. There were 15 recoveries and 655 discharges over the past 24 hours. Four of the deceased were unvaccinated, one received one dose of the vaccine and the others two doses. A 72-year-old woman from Mapusa who received one dose of the vaccine was brought dead to the North Goa district hospital and a 75-year-old man from Navelim who was double vaccinated passed away within 45 minutes of admission at Goa Medical College. The other deceased, all unvaccinated, comprised a 52-year-old man from Sattari, 59-year-old man from Margao, 76-year-old woman from Ponda and an 84-year-old man from Curtorim.
Panaji: Goa’s Covid case positivity rate stood at 8.6% with 259 new cases registered on Wednesday. With six fatalities, the toll rose to 3,760 while the active caseload reduced to 3,528. Eleven persons were hospitalised and 258 went on home isolation. There were 15 recoveries and 655 discharges over the past 24 hours. Four of the deceased were unvaccinated, one received one dose of the vaccine and the others two doses. A 72-year-old woman from Mapusa who received one dose of the vaccine was brought dead to the North Goa district hospital and a 75-year-old man from Navelim who was double vaccinated passed away within 45 minutes of admission at Goa Medical College. The other deceased, all unvaccinated, comprised a 52-year-old man from Sattari, 59-year-old man from Margao, 76-year-old woman from Ponda and an 84-year-old man from Curtorim.
Panaji: The state recorded spike of 2,476 new COVID infections in the last 24 hours at a high positivity rate of 30.36%, portending a grimmer situation in the days to come.The pandemic claimed four more lives on Tuesday, while the tally of active COVID cases rose to 12,019.The confirmed cases of COVID in Goa currently stand at 1,93,977, of which 1,78,421 patients have defeated the deadly disease.Till date, the pandemic has claimed 3,537 lives in the state. It is pertinent to note here that the public health department capped the COVID testing rate: now Rs 500 will be charged from the people for the conventional RT-PCR done using open-ended systems, while Rs 250 will be charged for the rapid antigen testing done using lateral flow immune chromatography equipment.The expert committee of doctors have made light of the rising COVID test positivity rate opining that enforcing COVID curbs should not be based on positivity rate, but rather on hospitalisation rate.It has been observed that hospitalisation rate is also gradually increasing and is expected to peak in the next two weeks, which will deteriorate the situation.This is for the first time in nearly eight months that the state has seen a single-day rise of over 2,000 COVID cases. From December last week, Goa is seeing an upward trend in new cases of infections.The directorate of health services is considering December 28 as the day from when the third wave of the pandemic began in the state. On that particular day the state saw 112 COVID cases at a positivity rate of 4.03 per cent.Medical experts have warned that the cases will continue to rise and the positivity may touch the 50% mark by next week.As many as 3,091 beneficiaries have been administered the booster (precautionary) dose of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine.Healthcare workers, frontline workers and senior citizens with co-morbidities are being given the third dose. The burden on health infrastructure and work pressure on healthcare workers will only increase in the coming days.Speaking to ‘The Navhind Times’, the Goa Association of Resident Doctors (GARD) president Dr Pratik Savant said that at least 15 resident doctors of the Goa Medical College and Hospital have tested positive for COVID since the beginning of the third wave of the pandemic.“The super-speciality block of the GMC has been made functional as the COVID-19, and some of our doctors are posted there; counselling of NEET-PG has also not started so residents (doctors) are less; so it’s (workload) stretching,” Dr Savant said.
Panaji: Goa reported a single-day spike of 2,476 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, the highest in eight months. The case positivity rate too jumped to 30.37%, almost six percentage points higher than Monday’s 24.7%. Goa now has over 12,000 active Covid-19 cases. The mortality count, too, shot up to 3,537, with four more deaths. Two men aged 88 and 74 from Tiswadi, both with comorbidities, died after less than two days of hospitalisation. One of the two had received a single dose of the Covid vaccine, while the other was unvaccinated. A 91-year-old woman from Saligao who died after three days of treatment was also not vaccinated. Over the last 24 hours, Goa conducted 8,154 tests — 4,741 RT-PCR and 3,413 rapid antigen — the highest so far, while 3,103 reports were pending. Of these, 2,522 tests were performed at private laboratories. The highest number of tests were performed at Hospicio and Asilo. The recovery rate further dropped to 91.98%, although 592 patients were declared cured, including 15 who were discharged from hospital. As many as 27 patients were hospitalised over the past 24 hours. In the last two days alone, over 60 patients had to be hospitalised, while the remainder are being managed in home isolation. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, 1,579 people were administered the precautionary dose and 639 school children were vaccinated with the first dose. Around 974 people also received their first dose. As of Tuesday, 11.27 lakh people have been fully vaccinated, and 2.14 lakh are yet to receive their second dose.
Panaji: Both districts of the state have breached the 20% weekly positivity rate mark. North Goa’s positivity rate rose to 23.7% and South Goa’s to 21.3% for the week between January 2 to 8. More than 60% of the positives were detected through the gold standard RT-PCR testing and the rest via rapid testing. Both districts have continued to feature on the union health ministry’s list of states with a weekly positivity rate of over 10% since the end of December. The state’s positivity rate has risen from 6.5% on January 1 to 24.8% on January 10, with one in every four tests returning a positive result now. Cumulative daily infections over the first ten days of January crossed 9,000 on Sunday. The state’s active Covid count, which stood at 1,338 on January 1, increased ninefold to cross 9,200 cases on January 10, with over 80 persons hospitalised and 10 dead during this period. On Sunday alone, 1,917 persons were put in home isolation. Veteran actor Nafisa Ali too tested positive in the state on Sunday. Goa’s exponential rise in cases continued with 1,922 new infections and one death reported. The new infections have taken the active tally to 9,209. With 7,761 samples tested, the daily positivity rate rose to almost 25%.
Staff Reporter PanajiThe COVID-19 test positivity rate touched a record high at 27.38% as the state saw 1,592 new infections in the last 24 hours, taking the tally of active cases above 10,000-mark.A total of 5,814 samples were drawn for testing at different centres across the state. The hospitalisation rate is increasing with every passing day, and on Monday as many as 23 patients were admitted to health facilities.One new death linked to the deadly disease was recorded in the last 24 hours; till date, 3,533 patients have succumbed to the deadly disease.The state has till date seen 21 cases of highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19, which also include two that were reported on Monday.One person had arrived from the United Kingdom and the second patient had come to Goa from the UAE.According to the information shared by the directorate of health services, both the patients have already been discharged after they completed the 14-day quarantine period. The confirmed cases of COVID in Goa currently stand at 1,91,501 of which 1,77,829 patients have defeated the deadly disease.Meanwhile, 1,513 beneficiaries were administered the booster (precautionary) dose of the anti-COVID vaccine on Monday. Healthcare workers, frontline workers and senior citizens with co-morbidities are eligible for the third dose.
Panaji: Goa’s Covid positivity rate shot to 27.38% on Monday with 1,592 fresh cases being reported. On Sunday, the case positivity rate was 24.7%. The count of active cases has surged past the 10,000-mark. A 47-year-old man from Sakhali having no comorbidities died within 24-hours of being brought to the community health centre there complaining of chest pain. He had tested positive on December 29 and was in home isolation since then. With his death, the mortality count rose to 3,534. In the last 10 days, 11 people have lost their lives to Covid-19. Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar has tested positive. He has appealed to the people who met him recently to get tested if symptomatic. Several doctors from government hospitals, nurses as well as paramedics have tested positive, but the exact number is not available. On Monday, 5,814 tests were carried out comprising 3,898 RT-PCR tests. The total tests conducted during the day, however, were fewer than the 7,761 conducted on Sunday, the highest in the last many days. In the last 10 days the number of tests has doubled from the below 2,500 mark. On Monday, 23 patients were hospitalised. The number of patients needing hospitalisation has increased with the spike, though admissions are still under control. Goa has 10,139 active cases. Over the last 24 hours, 661 people were cured while the recovery rate stood at 92.86%. The recovery rate has declined in correspondence to the rise in positivity rate.
Panaji: Goa has been witnessing a faster escalation of Covid-19 cases in the ongoing third wave vis-a-vis the first and the second waves. Cases began rising from December 23 when the daily case count crossed 50, with cases ranging between 30 and 50 a week earlier. Since then, the growth has been unstable. Chest physicians, Dr Anil Mehndiratta and Dr Haradatt Karande both agreed that Goa could see the peak after 15 to 20 days. “We may see the peak at the end of the month, or the first week of February,” Karande said. With the exponential rise in cases, Mehndiratta said the peak should happen at the end of the month or latest by the first of next month. “In last 10 days cases have multiplied. We have seen cases go from 100 to 2,000. We will continue to see a huge rise unless precautions, which people have forgotten, are taken,” Mehndiratta said. Consulting physician at Healthway Hospital, Dr Chitralekha Nayak, said Goa is expected to reach the peak within a month, in a shorter period as was seen in South Africa. “However, the down trend of cases that is likely from the first week of February, may linger for a longer period with elections happening,” Nayak said. Goa will go to polls on February 14, while counting of votes is on March 10. While the Election Commission has said no public meetings and rallies will be permitted till January 15, even at small events, such as opening an election office, crowding happens and with hardly anybody maintaining social distance. Under the present wave, no sooner had the daily case count crossed 50, than the rise in infections was phenomenal. Cases doubled in five days and crossed 250 in another two days. In contrast, during the first wave of 2020, it took 20 days for cases to reach the 100 mark with a daily average of around 56 and another 20 days to breach the 200-mark on July 27. The peak during the first wave was seen after another 47 days when daily infections touched 740 on September 12 and the highest active count hit 5,920 on September 19. During the devastating second wave, which started in March 2021, the peak came 37 days after Goa breached the 200 mark. But throughout February and till March 19, 2021, daily average cases ranged between 50 and 100. The infection count breached the 200 mark within eleven days and it took another 37 days to hit the peak with 4,195 daily infections on May 7. It took another week to touch the highest active count of 32,953 cases.
PANAJI: The Congress party’s state president Girish Chodankar tested positive for Covid-19 and has gone into home quarantine. The party has asked all those who were in touch with Chodankar to isolate and get themselves tested if they show any Covid-19 symptoms. Chodankar has been in close touch with the party functionaries in Goa, which goes to polls on February 14. According to party officials, Chodankar began to show symptoms two days ago after a press conference where other senior state Congress officials were also present. “My prayers for speedy recovery of Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar who has tested positive for Covid-19,” said Margao MLA Digambar Kamat. “Girish is in home isolation and has requested all those who have come in contact with him to get themselves tested incase of any symptoms. He is praying for the well being of all.” Goa has seen a resurgence in cases after New Year festivities with close to 2000 fresh cases detected on Sunday. The state’s Covid positivity rate stands at 24.7 percent with one in every four tests giving a positive result for Covid-19. Given the rise in cases, the Election Commission of India has imposed several curbs and has prohibited political rallies and large gatherings but most political parties continue to flout the directions. On Friday, Chodankar was part of a large Congress morcha which was on its way to Raj Bhavan to present a memorandum to Goa governor P S Sreedharan Pillai. A day later, Chodankar addressed a press conference at the party election office where the party released a 21-point chargesheet against the BJP.
Several states impose more restrictions to check the surgeNew Delhi/Mumbai: Several states imposed fresh restrictions to check the COVID-19 surge and Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the situation at a high-level meeting on Sunday as cases continued to rise with 1,59,632 new infections reported, the highest in 224 days.The Prime Minister called for ensuring adequate health infrastructure in districts, boosting vaccine drive for adolescents in mission mode and continuing the public campaign focused on COVID-appropriate behaviour as they were critical in the battle against the pandemic.From Monday, the country would start administering precaution dose of COVID vaccine to healthcare workers, frontline workers, including personnel deployed for election duty, and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities.Modi said that a meeting with chief ministers will be convened to discuss state-specific scenarios, best practices and public health response, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.Highlighting the need to ensure effective usage of masks and physical distancing measures as a new normal to control the spread of COVID, Modi called for effective implementation of home isolation for mild and asymptomatic cases and to disseminate the factual information to the community at large.He tweeted after the meeting, “Had extensive discussions on the prevailing COVID-19 situation. Reviewed the preparedness of healthcare infrastructure, the vaccination drive, including for youngsters between 15 and 18, and ensuring continuation on non-COVID healthcare services.”The Prime Minister also said that non-COVID health services should be ensured while managing COVID cases presently and suggested leveraging telemedicine to offer health-related guidance to people in remote and rural areas, the PMO said.Most states and Union territories, including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi, have already announced night curfew and other restrictions in thewake of the imminent third wave.The Himachal Pradesh government on Sunday banned social and religious functions till January 24. It also prohibited any gathering of more than 100 people for indoor and 300 people for outdoor academic, sport, cultural and political events, according to an order.Attendance of staff at state government offices was capped at 50%. The restrictions, however, will not be applicable to emergency services.The Rajasthan government announced the closure of schools in municipal areas till January 17, a Sunday curfew and restricted market timings and occupancy at restaurants and movie theatres.A one-day complete lockdown was enforced across Tamil Nadu and most roads and other public places wore a deserted look.Suburban and other train operations, bus and other public transport services, including the Metrorail in Chennai, were suspended.Chief Minister M K Stalin had earlier ordered fresh curbs which included state-wide night curfew between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. with effect from January 6.The Puducherry government also announced that all schools conducting offline classes for students from classes 1 to 9 will remain shut from Monday.Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said the state government will gradually bring curbs at places of worship and other sites, including liquor vends, that attract crowds to control the coronavirus pandemic.He, however, said that even as cases are rising, hospital bed occupancy and oxygen demand remain low.“When these start rising, we will enforce stricter restrictions,” he added.In the national capital, which was under weekend curfew, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said there is no plan to impose a lockdown as of now and that there will be no need for it if people wear masks.According to the Union health ministry data updated at 8 a.m. on Sunday, a total of 1,59,632 new coronavirus infections were reported, the highest in 224 days, while the active cases increased to 5,90,611, the highest in around 197 days.India logged 552 new cases of Omicron, taking the total tally of such infections to 3,623 across 27 states and UTs so far.Out of the total Omicron cases, 1,409 people have migrated or recovered.
Panaji: The state saw exponential rise in new COVID-19 infections on Sunday, even as the test positivity rate also continued to show an upward trend. A total of 1,922 COVID cases were recorded in the last 24 hours which is the highest during this third wave, and highest since the second peak of the pandemic.The positivity rate of the 7,761 samples tested in the last 24 hours is 24.76 %. The tally of active COVID cases also rose to 9,209.The DHS did not provide the health centre-wise breakup of these active cases. The confirmed cases of COVID in Goa currently stand at 1,89,909 of which 1,77,168 patients have defeated the deadly disease. Till date, the pandemic has claimed 3,532 lives; one death was registered in the last 24 hours.It is pertinent to note here that the directorate of health services will begin administering the booster (precautionary) dose of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine to the eligible population from Monday in the state.Healthcare workers, frontline workers and senior citizens with co-morbidities are eligible for the third dose.State immunisation officer Dr. Rajendra Borkar said that government officials, who will be on election duty on February 14, have been included in frontline workers category, adding that they too are eligible to receive the booster dose of the COVID vaccine.“The vaccination drives for these categories in all government health sectors including the Goa Medical College and Hospital. No new registration is required as only those who have already received the second dose will be eligible but there must be a gap of nine months between the second and the third dose. In other words, they should complete 273 days from the second dose or 39 weeks since they got their second dose,” Dr Borkar explained.He further said that those beneficiaries who received two doses of Covishield will get the same vaccine this time, and those who got Covaxin will get a third jab of that vaccine.
