About 37 passengers, who returned to Goa from the United Kingdom, in between 9th-22nd December, have tested positive, as per officials. This intensifies the threat of pandemic in the backdrop of the outbreak of the new coronavirus mutant in the UK. The state government is yet to receive reports from Pune’s National Institute of Virology for confirmation of the mutant strain among these positive passengers.
Testing & contact tracing identifies COVID-19 +ve returnees from the UK
Around 37 out of 979 passengers who travelled to the United Kingdom earlier this month have tested positive for the infection in Goa. A senior official attached to the Directorate of Health Services in the state has said that these positive hosts and around a dozen more locals who came in contact with them are in the institutional quarantine centre.
“Testing and contact tracing of all the 979 passengers is almost complete. The patients, as well as the persons who they came in contact with, have been admitted to institutional quarantine as a precautionary measure,” the official added. Following the protocol, new infections and probable carriers are now admitted to the Employees State Insurance Hospital, located in South Goa. The official also stated that nearly all the 979 passengers, who had arrived in Goa in the days before the flight ban came into place, were NRIs returning to their native homes in the coastal state for Christmas festivities.
The Government of India had announced a temporary ban on flights coming from the United Kingdom, starting at 11:59 PM on December 22, as a proactive measure to prevent the entry of the fast-spreading mutant strain of coronavirus in India. The mutated virus has plagued the UK already, which is observing a lockdown ever since its discovery.
Tests underway to check the prevalence of mutant strain of COVID-19
Taking direct charge of the situation, the Chief Minister said that the state government is awaiting reports from Pune’s National Institute of Virology for confirmation of the mutant strain among these positive passengers, adding, “In the meantime, we have decided to keep them in institutional isolation. Barring the condition of one person, the condition of the others is well.”
According to Nilesh Shah, President of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa, the ban on UK flights was a major setback to the tourism industry, however at the same time, he also acknowledged and lauded the manner in which the Goa government went about with locating the passengers, by means of contact tracing. “Overall, the situation has been handled well. The passengers returning from the UK have been identified and tested sending a good signal,” Shah told sources.
At present, Goa’s is nursing a total of 950 cases, while the death toll stands at 734 fatalities in the state. According to recorded data, Goa is recovering at a rate of 96.7% and has furnished a total of 49,199 recoveries since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
