With A Covid Positivity Rate Above 40%, Tourist Hub Goa Has Become A Covid Hotspot

Goa¡¯s below-par contact tracing and lack of testing in April has seen India¡¯s smallest state report the highest positivity rate in the country, as per TOI. Not only is the disease spreading quickly, but the government has not been quick enough to contain it.

At 40.5%, the weekly positivity rate is still the highest, well ahead of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

A senior government doctor involved in managing COVID facilities said Goa¡¯s high positivity rate presents ¡°a true picture of the spread of the infection¡± in a state that is a tourist hub.

PTI

¡°Initially, we were doing less testing as our capacity was limited and the government was not able to pick up all the positives. The government increased testing and thought that this would dilute the positives, but the results are revealing a scary picture,¡± he said on condition on anonymity.

"Since it is being matched by that many deaths too. Many deaths of those dying at home are not being tested for Covid, and are reported as heart attacks, etc, instead,¡± he added.

¡°There is a high possibility that the backlog in tests is getting cleared,¡± said Dr Anil Mehndiratta, former IMA president.

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¡°Backlog testing has nothing to do with the high positivity rate, and that the numbers are equalised as and when the test results come in and are added in every day¡¯s bulletin,¡± said a doctor with the directorate of health services said

¡°People need to come forward to get themselves tested and treated early,¡± added Mehndiratta.

The aim is to bring it down to 10%, but that is easier said than done.

Goa is India's tourist hub and when restrictions had initially been lifted, a lot of people had rushed there so that may well have been a factor too.

The smallest state with the highest positivity- not something to be proud of at all.