Goa should follow the Maharashtra procedure to check new virus strain
The world is facing an unexpected threat with at least two new strains of coronavirus that spread faster than the one we are still fighting. There are new restrictions in several countries, including India. Goa needs to be extra vigilant about this as the infection rate has been mercifully declining in the state. It came as a surprise to many that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant decided that Goa would not follow the Maharashtra example to impose night curfew unless there were directives from the Ministry of Home Affairs. Following the emergence of new virus strains, Karnataka too ordered a night curfew but withdrew it within 24 hours. There is anxiety among Goan people as a number of people working and living in the United Kingdom have come to Goa, and some of them could be carrying the new virus variant, to fight which the UK government has imposed a number of restrictions on travel, movements and gatherings.
Goa’s health department has put infection checks in place for passengers arriving from the UK. It depends on how closely the department is monitoring the health parameters of those passengers that did not test positive, for sometimes the infection surfaces after a few days. At least 11 passengers who arrived from the UK have tested positive for COVID-19. The health officials need to test all the 979 people who recently arrived from the UK for the old or new type of the virus. The earlier the testing is done, the better it would be to control the virus. The Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme cell of the directorate of health services has sent samples of the people who have tested positive to the National Institute of Virology, Pune for genomic analysis as per the protocol. The DHS should set up a separate institutional quarantine for those testing positive for newer variants of the virus in order to prevent its spread. A few Goans arriving from the UK have sought medical help after they developed symptoms; several of them volunteered to get themselves tested. However, we need to check all of them.
There have been cases elsewhere of passengers arriving from the UK giving a slip to health authorities and becoming untraceable after they tested positive for COVID-19. They have switched off their mobiles. This is a sad situation. The government has still not set up a foolproof system that does not allow people who test positive to escape institutional quarantine. People who tested positive are playing with their lives as well as the lives of their family members, friends and colleagues. Such reckless and irresponsible behaviour may become the cause of spread of the newer variants of the coronavirus if they are carrying them in their bodies. Newer strains have the ability to spread faster and cause wider damage. People who test positive should understand that institutional quarantine is good for them. Some days of confinement is better than lifelong complications from a poorly treated infection.
Following detection of the new virus several western nations have put restrictions on people arriving from the UK, South Africa and other countries and ordered strict lockdowns. India cannot afford another long lockdown as it will cripple businesses, which are yet to come out of the shocks and setbacks from the earlier lockdowns. Goans who have arrived from the UK and countries that have witnessed new virus strains should voluntarily go to the nearest testing facility to get themselves checked. If they are found positive they should get themselves admitted to institutional facilities. As the new strain has the ability to spread faster, the health authorities should consider giving them the dosage of vaccine as and when it is made available on priority so as to prevent the virus from playing havoc with others. Perhaps to be sure, the state health authorities should follow the Maharashtra procedure with passengers from the UK. No RT-PCR test should be done on arrival. They would be checked for symptoms and, if found symptomatic, sent to a COVID hospital. The asymptomatic passengers should be sent for institutional quarantine at their cost. They should be tested on the 5th or 6th day of the quarantine, again at their own cost.