While the situation is alarming, it is now up to the government to get its act together and start preparing for the unthinkable. Hopefully, the government may have learned its lessons from the Second Wave of COVID19 wherein Goa was put to shame by the government with 1700-odd deaths in May and shortage of Oxygen, hospital beds, and so on COVID19 medicines.
Meanwhile, as we prepare for the anticipated third wave, the government could do well to put the COVID19 norms in place, like the compulsory wearing of masks and maintaining social distancing.
SURAJ NANDREKAR
Editor, Goemkarponn
On Tuesday, Goa once again saw the COVID19 cases rise above the 100-mark, 112 to be precise, and yet the Chief Minister, Dr Pramod Sawant, makes a statement that no restrictions can be imposed in a hurry.
Goans will absolutely agree with the Chief Minister’s decision to give it another thought before imposing strict restrictions as the businesses are now operating at full capacity after a gap of almost two years, the taxis, the autorickshaws, the motorcycle pilots, the restaurants, the shacks, the hotels are happy that the domestic tourists, as well as few international tourists, are in full flow.
The government will have to think not once but twice or thrice before making any strong decisions on imposing night curfews, and any further restrictions like making COVID19 negative certificate mandatory as that would scare away the tourists.
While the situation is alarming, it is now up to the government to get its act together and start preparing for the unthinkable. Hopefully, the government may have learned its lessons from the Second Wave of COVID19 wherein Goa was put to shame by the government with 1700-odd deaths in May and shortage of Oxygen, hospital beds, and so on COVID19 medicines.
Meanwhile, as we prepare for the anticipated third wave, the government could do well to put the COVID19 norms in place, like the compulsory wearing of masks and maintaining social distancing.
Vaccination would play a crucial part in controlling the Omicron variant. There is no evidence to prove that the Omicron variant is more lethal than the Delta variant, but increasing the vaccination numbers would certainly help control the fatalities.
The government must now start mass vaccination and introduce the vaccination for children above 12-18 years.
The onus is also on the people to get themselves vaccinated.
But while all these are preventive measures, what is shocking is that while the Chief Minister asks people to follow norms, he himself is not stopping political rallies? Why thousands of people are still gathering for government functions?
The government could also do well to stop the festivals like the Sunburn, which is underway at Hilltop in Anjuna, despite the government denying permission for the same. The event organisers defied the government and held the festival in a smaller version at Hilltop.
However, shocking is that the videos of the event that went viral clearly show how all the COVID19 norms were thrown to the wind. Thousands of youth were seen dancing without masks. If the event was on a smaller scale, why did the government not put restrictions on people’s entry? Why no one was monitoring the event? Why were the organisers allowed the event despite the denial of permission?
The Tourism Minister Babu Azgaonkar says, “The Show Must Go On”, but at what cost? At the cost of innocent Goan lives? When will our politicians learn the lessons? We have lost nearly 3500 lives already; how much more do they want us to die for them to learn the lessons?
It’s high time the people demand accountability from these headless politicians.