Goa witnessed its biggest single day surge in coronavirus cases on Wednesday after 47 people -- most of them from within the containment zone at Mangor Hill in Vasco da Gama – tested positive taking the state’s tally past the 100 mark.
Health authorities in Goa have launched a massive testing drive in the Mangor Hill containment zone in Vasco. (Representative Photo/ANI)
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The fresh positive cases -- around 40 of whom were from within Mangor Hill that was declared a containment zone on Monday and where extensive testing has begun -- has sparked panic in the port town of Vasco with people resorting to panic buying after reports that the entire city would be subjected to a lockdown.
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Another two patients -- a mother daughter duo who entered the state from Hyderabad and two passengers who entered the state via a Vande Bharat flight from Dubai -- have also tested positive.
Goa’s Covid-19 tally now stands at 126 while the number of active cases rising overnight from 22 to 57.
The Health Department has collected a total of over 555 swabs across two days from within the containment zone and tests are ongoing, health authorities said.
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Covid-19 cases have snowballed since a couple tested positive on Monday.
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Covid-19 cases have snowballed since a couple tested positive on Monday.
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Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said the family’s decision to wait it out hoping the fever would subside rather than get themselves tested was part of the ‘mistake’ that led to the situation.
“But it is a misdeed of one family. No sooner they developed symptoms, they should have not gone to a private doctor and instead got themselves tested at our facilities. We feel they are still hiding the truth. Definitely someone from their family came from outside or has come in contact with someone from outside. It cannot be from here,” Sawant said while denying the incidence of community transmission.
The couple without a clear travel history tested positive for the novel coronavirus marking for the first time in Goa a case of local transmission in the state. The state administration quickly declared the area a containment zone while the local MLA has demanded that the entire port town which contains several vital installations like the port, the naval base, the airport, shipyard customs and coast guard offices to be sealed off.
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More cases are expected to emerge as testing of the 2,000 residents within the containment zone continues.
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