Goa COVID-19 positive tally crosses 100 mark

Goa's tally of active coronavirus patients crossed the three-figure mark on Thursday.

According to Goa Health Secretary Nila Mohanan, the state's tally of active COVID-19 cases now stands at 109, with 40 new cases being reported in the state on Thursday.

The key reason for the sudden spike in the rate of infections, is the quick spread of the viral infection in the Mangor hill cluster of houses in South Goa's Vasco town, in which 72 persons have tested positive in the last 48 hours.

"Today, we have 40 new cases, 32 of which were from the Mangor hill area where extensive testing is being carried out in Ward 11 and 17 of Mormugao Municipal Council. One male health worker who was active in Mangor hill area has also tested positive," state Health Secretary Mohanan said.

On Wednesday, 40 cases were reported in the Mangor hill, forcing the state government to declare the area as a containment zone.

"Yesterday, we had collected 353 swabs (in Mangor hill). Today, we have collected 400 swabs. So on the first day out of 200 swabs 42 were positive, today out of 353 swabs 32 are positive, so the number of swab-collection is going up, but the number of positives is going down, because we are now collecting those lower risk persons within the area," the official said.

The Goa government has ruled out locking down of Vasco town, which is key hub of marine and rail transport in the state. Mohanan also said, that delay in reporting symptoms by the first COVID-19 patient in the Mangor hill area, a fish trader, may have led to the quick spread in the locality.

"We know that the person was involved in buying and selling of fish and the market he used to buy fish from, used to have trucks coming in from Andhra Pradesh," Mohanan said.

"The first person had the symptoms for three days and approached us on the third day. If he had approached earlier, the situation might have been salvaged," the official said.