Goa: Authorities concerned as 7 health workers test positive for Covid-19

State health minister Vishwajit Rane said, seven healthcare workers have tested Covid-19 positive and the Vasco da Gama-based Urban Health Centre has suspended its operations following the outbreak.

Goa healthcare authorities are concerned after seven of their employees, who were involved in collecting swab samples within the state’s first containment zone, have tested coronavirus disease (Covid-19) positive.

Migrants undergo thermal screening before boarding a special train for Madhya Pradesh during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the coronavirus, at Thivim Railway Station at Tivim. (ANI)

State health minister Vishwajit Rane said, seven healthcare workers have tested Covid-19 positive and the Vasco da Gama-based Urban Health Centre has suspended its operations following the outbreak.

“We’re tracing the infected healthcare workers’ contacts. However, other healthcare workers mustn’t worry, as we’re providing all with personal protective equipment (PPE) kits,” he added.

The minister said that the state authorities had carried out random sampling tests in the areas from where the healthcare workers belong to, but all the test results have proved negative. They would be tested again after 14 days, he added.

Goa designated its first containment zone in the state on Monday after a Covid-19 patient was rushed to a hospital following complaints of difficulty in breathing.

Later, 72 people tested Covid-19 positive within the containment zone and most of them were asymptomatic.

Goa has reported 166 Covid-19 positive cases, including 109 active patients, so far.

The tally is set to rise further, as the results of another 400 swab samples collected on Thursday are still pending.

Besides healthcare workers, police personnel, drivers, and state transport corporation employees have also tested Covid-19 positive within the containment zone.