Goa: As virus cases rise, health department urges people to wear masks in public places

Times of India | 1 month ago | 19-08-2022 | 07:35 am

Goa: As virus cases rise, health department urges people to wear masks in public places

PANAJI: With Goa's daily average of Covid cases still hovering around 100 and above, the health services on Thursday appealed to people to wear masks in crowded places, especially during the festive period. For the past two days, the state has recorded 380 cases, with 180 detected on Thursday, taking the positivity rate to 14%. The active caseload increased to 941 and the mortality count rose to 3,957, with one fatality recorded over the past 24 hours. With 115 recoveries, the recovery rate stood at 98%. State epidemiologist Dr Prashant Suryawanshi said that people cannot be complacent and assume the pandemic has ended as the state has not recorded nil Covid cases. "If you take any public place, it appears that people have forgotten about Covid appropriate behaviour. Even in crowded places, people do not wear masks," he said. He said the state has reported around 100 cases on a daily basis, though on Wednesday, the count rose to 200 cases. "We want people to take precautions when they go to hospitals, pharmacies or crowded places. It is important to wear masks, especially with the ongoing festive season, and when crowding is inevitable," he said. He said that on an encouraging note, hospital admissions as well as fatalities are low. Goa recorded 14 deaths in July, and five this month till date. Not just in Goa, but even in other states, there has been a rise in infections, so much so that the Delhi government has mandated wearing of masks in public spaces, Suryawanshi said. "With cases still being reported, we cannot afford to relax completely," he said. He insisted that even people having mild symptoms should get themselves tested without delay. There has been an uptick in cases, while an outbreak has not been reported. State immunisation officer Dr Rajendra Borkar said that it appears as though the third wave of the pandemic has not ended, and ruled out the threat of a fourth wave. "When cases drop completely and remain stable on that level for a considerable period, then only we can say the wave has ended," he said. In February, health department officials had stated that Goa had crossed the peak of the third wave. The third wave in the state surged faster than the first two, and also reached its peak in the shortest duration, just 21 days.

Google Follow Image


Similar News

After Centre’s snub, MPT looks to get pvt player on board for mobile harbour crane
Times of India | 2 months ago | 26-07-2022 | 04:13 am
Times of India
2 months ago | 26-07-2022 | 04:13 am

Panaji: The Centre has rejected Mormugao Port Authority’s (MPA) proposal for funding under the Sagarmala scheme to purchase a mobile harbour crane and has instead recommended that the port must go through the public-private partnership (PPP) route. MPA will now attempt to get a private player on board through a revenue sharing model for a period of 10 years, but this process could take at least six months, said MPA chairman Venkata Ramana Akkaraju. Akkaraju provided this information to a Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry delegation that went to discuss the infrastructure gaps at the port. “The chairman said that a tender will be floated at the end of July where a new crane will be mobilised for a period of 10 years on a revenue sharing model, but that the whole process might take up to six months to complete,” said a GCCI office bearer privy to the meeting. “He also informed that a proposal for funding a crane was put forth under the Sagarmala scheme, but it was not approved stating that the port should try sourcing the crane via the PPP model.” The GCCI delegation comprised Chandrakant Gawas, Dhirendra Thakker and Sanket Kaskar. The purpose of the meeting was to urge MPA to develop port infrastructure. Gawas informed the MPA chairman about the lack of regulatory authorities at the port to issue important clearances in the movement of cargo. “According to the export-import procedures, there should be six government partnered agencies which include drug controller, animal quarantine, plant quarantine and truck controller that should be present at the port to issue clearances, but currently, there are none who are authorised to sign the clearances,” said Gawas. Akkaraju said that due to the insignificant cargo movement, it is not feasible for regulatory authorities to be present at the port. Akkaraju said that increasing the cargo volume should be the first priority. GCCI pointed out that even though Goa has a significant number of pharmaceutical industries that source raw material and manufacture medicines and medical test kits, the companies are forced to ship the cargo through JNPT or Chennai port. Gawas informed Akkaraju that the GMR Group is willing to support MPA in any way required so that both the water and air modes of transport can be used for the logistics sector. A GCCI delegation, along with Akkaraju and deputy chairman MPA Guruprasad Rai, met with minister for state for tourism and ports Shripad Naik and also requested him to resolve the long-pending issues.

After Centre’s snub, MPT looks to get pvt player on board for mobile harbour crane
As active Covid-19 cases cross 1-lakh mark after 122 days, here’s what trend shows
The Indian Express | 2 months ago | 30-06-2022 | 07:40 pm
The Indian Express
2 months ago | 30-06-2022 | 07:40 pm

Covid-19 cases have been on the rise again in India, with the country recording over 18,000 cases after a gap of 130 days, taking the cumulative tally to 4,34,52,164, according to data put out by the Union Health Ministry on Thursday. Cases have increased by 78 per cent from the average two weeks ago and deaths, too, have gone up by 119 per cent.Active cases in the country also crossed the one-lakh mark on Thursday after a gap of 122 days. A total of 18,819 new Covid cases were reported in a span of 24 hours while the death toll climbed to 5,25,116 with 39 new fatalities. The active cases, as such, went up to 1,04,555 comprising 0.24 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate stood at 98.55 per cent.An increase of 4,953 cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.16 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 3.72 per cent, according to the ministry.Where are Covid cases rising again?According to the data published by the Health Ministry, there are 43 districts around the country that are recording a weekly positivity rate of 10 per cent or more. Kerala tops this list with 11 districts, followed by Mizoram (6) and Maharashtra (5).Among the districts, Mizoram’s Kolasib tops the list, recording a positivity rate of 64.86 per cent. However, what is to be kept in mind is that the state does not perform too many Covid-19 tests when compared to others. The positivity rate is the proportion of samples tested that return positive.The other states that have been witnessing a noticeable rise include Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Manipur, Mizoram, Goa, Karnataka and Puducherry. While there are 42 districts in India that are recording a positivity rate between 5 and 10 per cent, the 627 others are still below the 5 per cent-mark.According to the trend this month, the country crossed the 4,000-mark on June 3, 7,000-mark on June 9, 8,000-mark on June 11, 12,000-mark on June 16, 13,000-mark on June 18, 17,000-mark on June 24 and 18,000-mark on June 30.India’s Covid-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year. It crossed 4 crore on January 25 this year.What about deaths?The 39 new fatalities recorded on Thursday include 17 from Kerala, 7 from Maharashtra, 4 from Uttar Pradesh, 3 from Punjab, 2 each from Haryana, Karnataka and West Bengal and 1 each from Delhi and Sikkim.Of the total deaths recorded to date, 1,47,922 are from Maharashtra, 69,993 from Kerala, 40,117 from Karnataka, 38,026 from Tamil Nadu, 26,261 from Delhi, 23,538 from Uttar Pradesh and 21,218 from West Bengal. To put it into perspective, at least 1 in 2,602 Indians have died from the novel coronavirus, taking the cumulative toll to 5,25,116.The Health Ministry, however, stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.What does the trend show?Since the beginning of the pandemic, at least 1 in 31 residents have been infected with Covid-19 in India. An average of 15,315 cases per day were reported in India in the last week with new infections increasing by 78 per cent from the average two weeks ago and deaths by 119 per cent.

As active Covid-19 cases cross 1-lakh mark after 122 days, here’s what trend shows
Cases up, exercise caution, take booster vaccine says Goa CM Pramod Sawant
Times of India | 3 months ago | 05-06-2022 | 06:48 am
Times of India
3 months ago | 05-06-2022 | 06:48 am

PANAJI: As Goa is seeing an increase in Covid cases in recent days, citizens should start taking the necessary precautions to avoid the infection, chief minister Pramod Sawant said on Saturday. He, however, did not comment on whether the state government will make wearing of masks mandatory in the coming days. The CM also asked citizens to take their booster dose of the vaccine. "There has been a slight increase in Covid cases. Everyone must take precautions, as suggested by the directorate of health services. On Sunday, we are administering booster doses of the vaccine at the health centres. I am appealing once again that those who have completed nine months since their second dose should come forward to take their booster dose," Sawant said after BJP's Garib Kalyan Sammelan in Taleigao. BJP state president Sadanand Shet Tanavade said that campaigns to increase booster dose coverage will also be held as part of the Garib Kalyan Sammelan. "In Goa, we have completed 100% coverage of both doses, but precautions must be taken. People are responsible and they will wear masks," Tanavade said. BJP is organising Garib Kalyan Sammelan across the state to mark completion of eight years of governance under PM Narendra Modi. "We will be distributing two lakh leaflets to raise awareness about the various schemes introduced by the Centre over the last eight years," Tanavade said.

Cases up, exercise caution, take booster vaccine says Goa CM Pramod Sawant
Tagged: