11 new COVID-19 cases in Goa; state tally rises to 66

Eleven people who travelled to Goa in the Delhi-Thiruvananthapuram Rajdhani Express train on Saturday, have tested positive for coronavirus, taking the total number of such cases in the state to 66, officials said on Sunday.

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With this, the number of active cases in the coastal state has gone up to 50, they said, adding that 16 people have been so far been discharged after recovery.

As many as 263 passengers, who alighted from the Rajdhani Express at Madgaon railway station in South Goa district on Saturday, were tested. Of them, reports of 11 came out positive in the TrueNat (rapid) tests, a senior health department official said.

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"Repeat tests of the 11 people at the virology lab of state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital also came out positive, he said.

All the eleven passengers, including a five-year-old boy, have been shifted to Margao-based ESI hospital, which is the designated facility for treatment of COVID-19 patients, the official said.

So far, over 12,000 samples have been tested for coronavirus infection in the state.

Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane is scheduled to meet Chief Minister Pramod Sawant during the day, in view of the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the coastal state, an official said.

Rane is likely to urge the chief minister for more stringent protocols, including mandatory COVID-19 negative certificates from authorised private labs for fliers who arrive in the state from Monday, following the Aviation Ministry's decision to resume domestic flight services.

At least 15 flights are scheduled to arrive at the Goa airport on Monday.

Goa's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases: 66, new cases: 11, deaths: nil, discharged: 16, active cases 50.