Goa is one of the smallest states of India with 88 per cent literacy and a huge urban population and much better infrastructure than most parts of the country. It is one of those pieces of land which is known very well outside India because of its tourists’ attraction.
However, the news of the death of 83 patients in just four days last week—this is the official figure–in Goa Medical College and Hospital simply because of the disruption of oxygen came as a big shock for people within and outside the country. Can a state which can build so many five-star hotels and holiday resorts could not even manage to supply oxygen to its corona virus victims? This tragedy continued for four days in the wee hours and even the Goa High Court intervention could not do the needful.
The BJP government of Pramod Sawant has come under heavy fire and even the international media is specifically highlighting this glaring mismanagement.
Not only that, Goa has in proportion to its population, left all the other states much behind so far as the fatalities and number of reported positive cases are concerned. The state with just two million population has lost 2,197 people to the pandemic.
It needs to be mentioned that almost all these deaths have come in the second wave as in the first wave very few people lost their lives. The local people directly hold the state government responsible for delayed action and allowing tourists to come to the state even when COVID-19 was wreaking havoc in neighbouring Maharashtra and Karnataka.
On May 18 the state reported 1,358 new cases and the total figure now stands at 1.39 lakh. In the last 24 hours, 45 people lost their lives. This is the situation when corona virus is now showing signs of decline. Otherwise at its peak, the daily toll had almost touched the three-figure mark.
The death toll in India in the last 24 hours was 4,529, the highest ever in the world and the total number of reported cases was over 2.63 lakh.
