Covid-19 Update: Goa is quietly scripting a success story with declining active cases

Goa is now left with two active positive cases of coronavirus.

Goa’s tally of active Covid-19 positive patients dropped further to two on Saturday after four patients tested negative for a second time in 24 hours and were declared to have recovered from all symptoms, ready for discharge from the hospital. The development brings good news for state administrators at a time when positive cases in other states, including neighbouring Maharashtra, are on a steady rise.

Goa will soon roll out a door to door survey to detect people with history of foreign travel and or Covid-19 symptoms (AFP Photo/Representative)

Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said Goa was left with only two Covid-19 positive patients.

“We are happy to inform that samples of 4 patients were tested again as per protocol and reported negative. We are following all the guidelines of ICMR and as per the procedure, we have conducted all the necessary tests,” Rane said.

Rane went ahead to congratulate the team of state doctors who provided medical care to the patients.

“My heartiest congratulations to the team of doctors at ESI Hospital (the state’s dedicated Covid-19 hospital) under the guidance of Dr. Edwin Gomes and his team for doing a commendable job by providing state-of-art patient care and ensuring complete recovery. Kudos to the entire team & their dedication in these difficult times,” Rane said.

The Goa government has, however, recommended to the Prime Minister that the lockdown be continued until April 30, while allowing the resumption of some economic activity within the state, but without interstate movement of people.

The state government has also rolled out a community survey that will begin from April 13, in which enumerators will fan out across the state asking residents for their travel history and presence of any influenza-like symptoms.

“The data of this survey will help us roll out mass testing if certain hotspots of influenza-like illness are found or alternatively it will help us declare that Goa is in the safe zone,” Sawant said.