Panaji: Goa government on Saturday announced temporary shut down of educational institutes and public places including casinos, swimming pools, and pubs in the wake of Coronavirus outbreak in the country, till March 31.
State chief minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday chaired a high level meeting which was also participated by state health minister Vishwajit Rane.
After the meeting, Sawant announced slew of measures in the state to ensure that there is no outbreak of coronavirus in the state.
Right from shutting down of educational institutes, casinos to installing thermal scanners at Airport, Port and Railway Station, the state government has drawn its action plan to curb the spread of this disease.
Goa till date does not have a single positive case of coronavirus while one patient remains to be quarantined at Goa medical college and hospital and 30-odd going through home isolation.
Rane on Friday had announced that his department had invoked Epidemic Diseases Act, 1987 in the state which empowers the state to ban mass gatherings.
Sawant on Saturday said that schools and other educational establishments will be closed down till March 31, while the examination of Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education for tenth and twelfth standard will continue as per their schedule.
He said that all the public swimming pools, cinema halls and Casinos would be shut down till the end of this month.
The state government will revise its order by the end of this month after overseeing the situation.
The order will come into force from tomorrow (Sunday) mid-night onwards.
The chief minister said that March 22 Zilla Panchayat elections in the state will go ahead as per the schedule, while he suggested that the candidates should avoid mass gathering and indoor meetings.
Sawant admitted that the current ban will have huge impact on the tourism industry as people are adviced against travelling internationally and also to the domestic destinations. But he said that the measures are unavoidable considering the global situation on the spread of virus.
The chief minister said that the current thermal guns at state’s airport would be replaced with Thermal Scanner with immediate effect. All the international and domestic passengers will be screened through Thermal scanner to spot possible carrier of the virus.
He said that in the second step, the Thermal Scanner would be installed at Mormugao Port Trust. The port has already banned the arrival of Cruises till March 31.
Sawant said that the Thermal Scanners will also be installed at the railway station so that all those who are arriving are thoroughly checked before allowing in the state.
Since the current wedding season is on, Sawant adviced people to avoid huge gatherings.
