Recoveries outnumber active cases for first time in Goa

PANAJI: The state recorded its seventh Covid-19 death after Pascoal D’Souza, 72, a councillor of the Mormugao Municipal Council, died of the infection at the ESI-Covid hospital on Saturday night.
D’Souza, who was brother of former minister and state NCP president Jose Philip D’Souza, represented ward-17, which is in Mangor Hill, which has reported more than 300 Covid cases since last month.

Pascoal had attended a council meeting last week, and had done a Covid test after two other members — who were also part of the meeting — tested positive.
Meanwhile, for the first time, the number of recovered cases overtook the number of active ones after 111 patients were declared cured on Sunday. This, along with 77 new cases, brought the total active case count down to 818. Thus, out of the 1,761 total cases the state has seen so far, more than 50% have recovered.
However, as cases continue to rise, chief minister Pramod Sawant said that people must abstain even from visiting neighbours. “People are still not serious about the dangers of the infection,” he said. “Nothing will happen if you don’t visit your neighbour.” The CM’s comment came a day after the state reported 108 cases on Saturday.
Sawant also said that Covid care facilities in the state have been expanded, and if need be, a second Covid care hospital will also be declared. He also said that the state has ramped up its testing capacity and now does almost 2,300 tests a day.
The whole of Mangor Hill was sanitised on Sunday, and on Monday, a special meeting involving four MLAs and state officials will be held to take a decision on the containment zone, which is still reporting cases daily. Locals have repeatedly demanded that the area be unsealed. The residents have been given free ration since Mangor Hill is home to many daily-wage labourers who are out of work since it was declared a containment zone.
Another slum area, Indiranagar in Chimbel, also reported a spike in cases on Sunday as 13 new infections were detected. In Camrabhat, too, five more patients tested positive, while isolated cases were detected in Curchorem and Thivim.