goa covid 19 cases

Goa’s Unlocked Restaurants Are Starved for Customers After 5-Month Break

Widespread fear in Goa as coronavirus cases spike leave it’s recently unlocked bars and restaurants virtually empty. Operators are hoping the government will do more to help a stricken industry.

On September 1, Goa allowed its restaurants and bars to open for dine-in customers after a five-month-long ban. Tables, however, despite rules for social distancing in place, remain largely empty as the state witnesses a steep spike in coronavirus infections.

Margarida Távora e Costa runs Goa’s most famous restaurant, Fernando’s Nostalgia in Raia, Salcette. Despite warnings from well-wishers to put off opening even though the ban has been lifted – due to the rising numbers of COVID-19 cases – she says she felt compelled to open the restaurant, because Nostalgia’s dedicated staff of 20 years have families to feed.

But business is nowhere near as usual. “Customers are just 25-30% of pre-COVID levels, though we have complied with the SOPS for hygiene and social distancing. But at least something is better than nothing. I don’t think we will reach pre-COVID levels of business this year,” says Margarida.

On September 1, Goa had 588 new infections and a cumulative 18,006 coronavirus cases. By September 24, it had a cumulative 30,552 cases — a 70% increase in three weeks, with an average of 522 new cases a day. The numbers may seem low compared to other states, but Goa is India’s smallest state with an estimated population of just 18 lakh. Nearly 2% of the population has now contracted the virus.

Goa also has the highest number of cases per million population than any other state. Yet Goa is rolling out the red carpet to visitors as it’s tourism-led economy has all but collapsed due to the pandemic. After the centre’s Unlock 4 guidelines, there is no more health vetting of tourists entering Goa.

Also read: Goa: Backed by Local BJP MLAs, ‘Self-Lockdowns’ in Villages Draw Party Leadership’s Ire

“Right now, mostly tourists and some non-Goans settled here are coming to the restaurant, but not Goans. Goans are being extra cautious and also thrifty, spending only on prime necessities, as many have lost jobs, some are getting only 50% of their earlier salaries. Further, entire families are at home so they are not only cooking for themselves, many have also begun small culinary enterprises to make up for the lost income,” says Nostalgia’s Margarida.

Marius Fernandes does not plan to visit a restaurant till 2021. A beloved Goan famous as the state’s ‘festakar’ for the sheer number of traditional festivals he has revived, Marius has spent the entire lockdown on his home island of Divar, a safe place to avoid viruses of all kinds. He visited two popular restaurants in state capital Panjim in the second week of September.

“I had to maintain social-distancing norms so the restaurants were only catering to 50% of the usual customers, hence they were losing revenue. These enforced measures make the situation dismal and terrible for restaurant owners. I also noticed home delivery sales but that won’t be sustainable to run the business and cover their costs. Very few are venturing from their villages into Panjim. I myself ventured out of Divar only after six months because of an emergency, and possibly will not return until the new year,” said Marius.

It’s not just restaurant and bar owners who have been left with their incomes decimated. Omar de Loiola Pereira, one of Goa’s biggest names in music who also plays regular gigs in select restaurants, has had no work for the past six months. “Except for one paid online show in August, I have been out of work exactly six months since the lockdown. Now that restaurants have opened, we have restarted with the only regular gig we do on Sunday afternoons. Nothing else has restarted yet. Most of our bookings have actually been cancelled altogether.”

Many Goans are upset that tourists are being freely allowed to come to Goa while COVID-19 levels are spiking. At the same time, the economy needs to open up given that so many Goans have lost income. But the opening has been accompanied by anger among Goans at tourists ignoring safety norms. There is also anger at both staff and patrons in some restaurants, particularly in North Goa, going maskless. Anumitra Dastidar opened The Edible Archive restaurant in Assagao, Bardez just four months before the nationwide lockdown closed her business. “Yes, we’ve had to politely ask people to wear masks or stay in the outside courtyard of the restaurant,” says Anumitra.

Also read: In Tourist Haven Goa, Tourists and ‘Outsiders’ Are No Longer Welcome

“We do need to restart our decimated economy. And given that tourism is one of its biggest pillars, we need to restart tourism. However, this needs to be managed very carefully and maturely. Decisions that are short-sighted and ill-conceived could cost us dearly,” says Omar. “At the gigs, I’ve seen far less patrons than the normal capacity of the restaurant. But we too won’t go out to restaurants to eat just as yet, because we have elders and children who both fall within the vulnerable age brackets. Though you see some restaurants claiming they follow SOPs, it’s but an eyewash. I have passed by a few restaurants that are too crowded, no distancing, no sanitising between guests leaving a table and new guests sitting at it, staff not wearing masks, closed and badly ventilated places. etc. Our own economic situation does not give us the confidence to indulge in discretionary spending just yet,” adds Omar.

Trying to assuage the fear, on September 20, state health minister Vishwajit Rane inaugurated a ‘Covid store’ at Goa’s Dabolim airport, where passengers can purchase PPE kits, hand sanitisers, masks and gloves. Not that many tourists are racing to visit Goa. Tourism minister Manohar Ajgaonkar admitted that tourism would not pick up in the state till a COVID vaccine has been approved, noting that establishments which have opened are not doing well.

“While it’s important for Goa to have a functional tourist economy, I do think that there should be some measures and rules in place while COVID levels are on the rise, to make it safer for everyone involved, whether tourists or locals. We ourselves feel the need to take precautions while interacting with our customers. It would be much better if the government-mandated procedures like negative tests before travel and staggered hours for shops etc, so that the rate of the spread could be reduced overall, even while reopening,” says Anumitra.

Anumitra, however, sounds more optimistic about future prospects. “Because of the lockdown, we did have to drastically change our menu. This allowed us to embrace the seasonal nature of our food and thoroughly explore local ingredients, so we changed the menu for the monsoon season. We’re aiming to reopen in October for dine-in. We’ve been getting quite a few inquiries about dine-in, as well as delivery and caterings. I would say it is becoming comparable to pre-COVID levels, in the last month.”

Goa is tackling the same precarious balancing act that the whole world is facing. Open up for much needed economic activity, while keeping people safe from infection. So far, Goa’s is teetering on its balancing act.

Lesley A. Esteves is a journalist and editor based in Goa.

Goa: Despite 1100% Spike in COVID-19 Cases, BJP Is Busy Raiding Its Former Ally

Breaking up the Goa Forward Party doesn’t really do much for the BJP, except to prove that the saffron party is cynical enough to play political hopscotch during a pandemic and an economic downturn.

On a day that Goa hit a new milestone with its first two COVID-19 deaths and recorded 1100% spike in cases, the BJP went on a political hunting raid trying to split its own former ally, the Goa Forward Party (GFP). Asked if the political grapevine had got it right, GFP president Vijai Sardessai told The Wire, “they are trying”.

The political moves being managed by the saffron party’s shadowy organising secretary Satish Dhond, said to have a direct line to union home minister Amit Shah, come against the backdrop of chief minister Pramod Sawant’s gross mishandling of the COVID-19 crisis and the state’s finances and provide a convenient distraction from issues that really matter.

A “green zone” till April 12 when it was COVID-free, Goa’s curve has ballooned dramatically this month, hitting 951 cases and two deaths (as on June 24), a spike of 1100%, the local O Heraldo reported. Six localities and villages across Goa now house hotspots, with the settlement at Mangor hill in Vasco leading the count with 283 cases.

Breaking up the GFP which has only three MLAs doesn’t really do much for the BJP in terms of numbers, except to prove that the saffron party has the muscle and the coffers to do it—and is cynical enough to play political hopscotch even during a challenging pandemic and economic downturn.

Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant with Goa speaker Rajesh Patnekar at Shiv Jayanti celebration earlier this year. Photo: Author provided

The BJP has already a bloated strength of 27 (in a House of 40), 10 of them acquired from the Congress and two from the MGP last year. The ruling party lost the 2017 election but still managed to scramble to power, poaching MLAs from other parties along the way. Last week, the Supreme Court issued notice to Goa speaker Rajesh Patnekar on a petition filed by the Congress Party. The speaker has kept the party’s disqualification petition against its MLAs in cold storage since August 8, 2019, the Congress said.

Sardessai, who played a pivotal role in the BJP’s return to power, has turned its biggest critic since being dropped from Sawant’s cabinet, calling his government “inefficient, non-transparent and having no administrative accountability”, accusations hard to dispute as the government lurches from crisis to crisis. The BJP’s moves to splinter the GFP comes days after the local party petitioned the state Lokayukta (notices have already been sent to the government in the matter) for an investigation into the diversion of a coronavirus relief fund meant for labourers to the pockets of BJP workers and supporters.

Vijai Sardessai. Photo: Facebook

Much of the Rs 13 crore Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board Assistance Scheme-Covid-19 (set up end March to help workers tide over wage loss) had been siphoned off by BJP karyakartas, the GFP complaint alleges. Out to shoot down the messenger, labour minister Jennifer Monserrate told The Wire, “Don’t go by everything you hear from Goa Forward. Since when have they become so clean?”

She has bank details to prove the money (from a Rs. 5.6 crore fund, according to the government) had gone to the right beneficiaries, Monserrate claimed. Her statement, however, runs counter to the chief minister’s admission that he’d spotted the names of several sarpanchas who’d taken the Rs 6,000 dole meant for labourers (“What can I do if some sarpanch registers as a labourer?” – was his wry comment).

The Wire independently spoke to a random selection of people on the list. Among them four housewives (“I never leave the house, I have a sick father to look after,” one said), a “utility” worker who applied because he too was out of work, and even an employee of a major tyre factory who took the handout even though he still has a well-paid admin job. None, of course, are construction workers and all had been alerted to the scheme by their BJP panchas.

By its own admission, the Goa government is so broke (revenues slumped 80% making the liability difficult to handle, a senior official said) that it even diverted funds from the District Mineral Foundations to ride out the crunch. “They have no concept of the kind of financial crisis we’re in,” former deputy CM and MGP leader Sudin Dhavlikar told the local media Wednesday. The chief minister was selling state security bonds every now and then to just manage the government’s wage bill, he pointed out.

Also read: Red Flags Over Goa’s COVID-19 Testing as State Itches to Reopen Economy

Compelled to cut back on six crucial healthcare projects at the Goa Medical College because of the squeeze, the chief minister hasn’t for a moment taken his eyes off the construction of a memorial for a dead politician and the superfluous beach landscaping under the smart city project (both infrastructure projects are directly under him) where work continues apace even during the pandemic and economic meltdown.

“Only the government knows how the funds for the Manohar Parrikar Smriti Sthal will come,” a government official says. All he knows is that the Rs 10 crore project (being built by Univastu India Ltd on Miramar beach) has a deadline of March 2021, and work was fast-tracked soon as the 40-day lockdown lifted. Tonnes of concrete are being poured into the sandy beach for the structure’s foundation, even though Goa’s seen an intense start to the monsoon with flooding all around.

Miramar promenade project. Photo: Author provided

Bordering the Parrikar memorial, almost a kilometre of beach is being landscaped at the cost of Rs 13 crore with the construction of a gabion wall, a granite promenade and the random placement of gazebos under the guise of the smart city project, never mind that Goa has one of the worst internet connectivity systems in place. Launched in 2015, one of the prime objectives of the Centre’s Smart City Mission was to create an efficient urban infrastructure with high-speed internet, good public transport and uninterrupted water and power supply in 100 Indian cities.

In Panaji, the funds have been diverted to beautification projects of the chief minister’s choice, though Sawant has never lived in the city. Asked for a break-up of projects and the funds received and spent, Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Ltd said it would “take time”. The special purpose vehicle set up for the project’s execution has been often accused of a complete lack of transparency.

The beach beautification project under smart city. Photo: Author provided

It’s easy to dismiss the Goa chief minister as an incompetent, inexperienced, fumbling leader. At a recent press conference turning down the need for a short lockdown at a growing hotspot, he said “Goans have good immunity” to fight the infection. In another instance, he said coronavirus was just like the flu.

Also read: Goa: Backed by Local BJP MLAs, ‘Self-Lockdowns’ in Villages Draw Party Leadership’s Ire

The pandemic has also allowed the BJP government to brazenly subvert the system and use the police selectively against the opposition and activists. Recently, the Vasco police arrested Goa PCC vice president Sankalp Amonkar and a half dozen other Congress supporters for holding a press conference in which they pointed to the flaws in the government’s response to the pandemic. An FIR has also been registered by the crime branch against the former NCP MLA Micky Pacheco for his criticism of the government.

Last month seven activists were arrested for protesting the filling up of agricultural land for a new panchayat ghar in Taleigoa, Monserrate’s constituency. The panchayat, known to overlook violations by huge developers, runs an air-conditioned office, probably one of the poshest in Goa.

Devika Sequeira is an independent journalist based in Goa.

Red Flags Over Goa’s COVID-19 Testing as State Itches to Reopen Economy

Throwing caution to the wind, Goa welcomes honeymoon couples, well-heeled with second homes and sees a sudden spike in cases surge.

Panaji: Last week, the Goa government suspended the COVID-19 testing licence of SRL Diagnostics, the only private lab that had been allowed to test for the coronavirus in Goa. All tests are currently carried out only in the government-run laboratory at the Goa Medical College. The state government said the decision was taken after three industrial workers who had been reported positive by SRL Diagnostics turned out to be negative in two subsequent tests at the government hospital.

SRL, however, said it stood by its test results. In a statement to The Wire, the diagnostics company’s Goa laboratory head Eugene D’Souza said: “We at SRL understand that the testing for COVID 19 is an extremely critical process and hence we strictly follow elaborate processes, guidelines and protocols laid down by ICMR, including running all the controls and calibrations. And we are only using ICMR approved kits and testing techniques, i.e. – RT PCR. Hence, we stand by our reports.”

The company said “given the gravity of the situation”, it has sent the same samples for re-testing in a government lab.

Calling SRL’s suspension a “well-considered decision”, Goa’s health secretary Nila Mohanan told The Wire that the fact that the laboratory had erred in three cases could not be ignored. “The matter was put up on file to the medical team and a decision was taken to temporarily suspend permission to SRL Diagnostics.” Mohanan said the situation would have been much worse if the laboratory’s tests returned false negatives.

She claimed the three “false positive” cases involved one pharma and two industrial workers, implying they had all come into the state from “outside”, when the units were reopened after the partial lifting of the lockdown.

However, a senior cabinet member told The Wire that all three were pharma workers (no pharma unit was shut down in Goa all through the lockdown). He questioned Sawant’s decision to suspend permission to SRL without following the required protocols, when the company holds an ICMR licence for testing at its reference labs in Gurgaon and Mumbai (where the Goa tests were done).

Mohanan said the state’s vigilance at the border – “we’ve been catching all the cases at source” – coupled with its 4.5 lakh household survey, showed its containment strategy had worked to prevent community transmission.

Reports filed in national and local dailies have questioned the effectiveness of these measures, which have been described as highly porous and leaky by reporters on the ground.

A Goa policeman chides a foreign tourist for violating the lockdown at Vagator beach last month. Photo Vincent Braganza

Largest single-day spike

On Sunday, Goa saw the largest single-day spike of 11 new cases (all of whom arrived by train), taking the state’s count to 50 cases currently. It had no active cases for weeks, until May 13.

Yet riding on the propaganda of a “Covid-free Goa”, the state’s gung-ho leaders have been itching to re-open this tourist destination for business and for iron ore extraction, its two biggest economic activities. Governor Satya Pal Malik too joined in the chant: “Everyone knows that Goa is corona-free, so domestic tourists will come here,” he said to ANI, in what sounded like an open invitation for tourists to head to Goa.

In an interview to NDTV last week, Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant stressed several times that Goa is “covid-free” except for the “imported cases”. Once the lockdown 4.0 ends on May 31, Goa would consider opening up to tourism, he said.

As more people began to return from big cities, where the situation has become worse, there are more ‘imported cases’ being recorded. Eleven patients were identified on the train from Mumbai on Sunday; another 50 passengers who could have been infected have also been quarantined in hotels by the government.

It was mainly people with second homes in Goa who were headed here, Sawant claimed on Sunday, sweating from the criticism of his flip-flops that are now stretching the state’s health infrastructure. “We’re not fools to just invite tourists to Goa,” he told the media briefing.

However, this does not seem to be true. A senior government official said five couples with no connections in the state had breezily chugged into Goa last week for their honeymoon. They tested negative and even managed a hotel stay, courtesy the government of Goa, waiting for their test results.

An official government photo of Goa CM Pramod Sawant.

Quarantine measures watered down

Yet bracing for an avalanche of 4,000 new arrivals on Monday (after the opening up of domestic flights), the Goa CM and his advisors watered down, rather than tightening, the guidelines for those coming in. A person can now opt for 14 days of home quarantine (a requirement most persons in quarantine currently violate with impunity) upon arrival if she prefers to shell out Rs 2,000 for the coronavirus test. Those who have gotten tested for the virus during the 48 hours before travel will also pass through.

An intense power struggle between health minister Vishwajit Rane, who was responsible for setting up the state’s infrastructure to fight the pandemic, and Sawant, who’s surrounded by a cabal of bureaucrats and an overbearing medical advisor out to sideline the health minister, could undo all the good that Goa’s intense lockdown had achieved.

Panaji-based physician Oscar Rebello said, “All the hard work and sacrifices put in by Goans during this lockdown period will have come to nought with this absurdly unscientific SOP of going easy on the mandatory testing and quarantine of those coming in. The Goa government is answerable to the people of Goa and not to Delhi.”

The weakened guidelines have been slammed by the Congress and Goa Forward Party – who’ve criticised the state’s double standards in putting Goa’s seafarers into paid quarantine – could well trigger community transmission, people here now fear.

Devika Sequeira is a freelance journalist based in Goa.