Don’t be complacent, Goa may witness second wave of COVID-19 infection, we should be ready with facilities: Vishwajit Rane

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Panaji: Even as the number of COVID-19 positive cases remained  decreased in the State, Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said that the government is not complacent as “second wave can be expected during November-December months after opening up of the state for economic activities.”

Goa government is currently witnessing empty beds in its facilities set up for COVID-19 treatment due to introduction of Home Isolation and reduction in the number of infections.

Rane said “just because beds are empty that does not mean they will continue to remain so. We do not know when the cases will spike.”

“As the economy starts opening up and more people coming to Goa, there is a possibility that there would be sudden spike and we should not be caught unaware,” he said.

The minister said that all the facilities and machinery that has been decided by experts committee have been procured and ordered and is being placed in respective hospitals.

“As we go on opening up for November and December, we need to be more cautious. Few empty beds will continue, this is decision of the experts committee and Dean of GMC and DHS, we should be ready for any kind of spike or second wave,” he said.

Rane noted that as far as Delhi is concerned, there are rise in the cases, also India is witnessing the surge in the number of positive cases.

“Globally, we see that Europe is getting ready for its most critical wave. Goa should not take things lightly,” he commented.

“Many times I see that individuals feels that second wave is not going to come. This is unpredictable because we have never gone through pandemic like COVID- 19 earlier and in view of the same we need to be ready. As a health minister it is my duty to keep every citizen safe,” Rane said.

The minister said that the empty beds in the hospitals are because of the minute and micro level home isolation done by the state government.

“I have given instruction to monitor home isolation. We have also given instruction for digitalization of the records. We know the saturation of every patient and when we need to move him to medical facility. It is unique model that we are following in the state of Goa,” he added.

Rane said that the state health department had a webinar with Yale University of Global health sharing our experiences and what Goa is  doing for home isolation so that we don’t have cases coming at the last minute. “As a result we have brought the rate of mortality down from double to single digit and ultimately our whole idea is to save lives,” he said.

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