The Goa travel and tourism industry on Thursday welcomed the state government decision to open the tourism sector, even as hoteliers continued to await government guidelines and SOPs.
“Many people and trades are indirectly related to the hotel industry. The government can help with free rations to some extent, but people can’t survive only on rice,” said the Travel and Tourism Association president Nilesh Shah.
On Wednesday, Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar had said the tourism activity, especially hotels, would be allowed to reopen.
On Thursday, however, the Goa government failed to upload the SOPs and guidelines. “Hotels didn’t open because advisories have still not been uploaded. It’s awaiting the Chief Minister’s nod. Everyone is eager to start operations,” Goa Hotel Owners Association president Gaurish Dhond said.
“We are ready. We are expecting a good season in October and November. We want to come back with a bang,” Dhond said.
SOPs for hotels would be issued soon, said Goa Tourism Director Menino D’Souza. “Hotel owners will have to submit an undertaking that they will follow the stipulated guidelines. Nearly 260 hotels have registered with the state Tourism Ministry for the beginning of operations,” D’Souza said.
Tourists will have to either carry Covid-19 negative certificates with a 48-hour validity or get themselves tested in Goa. “Hotels will have to create an isolation facility, where tourists who don’t have Covid-19 negative certificate will be hosted until they are tested and their tests reports declared,” D’Souza said.
MLAs to undergo testing
Two days after a ruling BJP MLA tested positive for Covid-19, Speaker of the Goa assembly Rajesh Patnekar on Thursday urged all legislators to get themselves tested for the virus.
“Definitely, it is better to have tests done. MLAs often have to rush to sites where Covid cases are detected. People expect MLAs to help. By default they come in contact with some persons there, when they reach the spot,” Patnekar told reporters here.
“I request all MLAs to go for self-testing. It is my appeal to them,” Patnekar said.
The Speaker’s comment comes a few days after Goa Governor Satya Pal Malik convened the monsoon session of the state legislative assembly from July 27.
State Legislature Department is also expected to issue a detailed advisory to all MLAs for the duration of the assembly session.
“Due to the prevailing situation in the country and the state of Goa, it is advised to all members that it would be prudent not to have any meetings, briefings and other activities which result in gatherings in an enclosed space. This is particularly in view of the Assembly Session that is scheduled to commence on July 27,” Goa’s Secretary Legislature Namrata Ulman said in an advisory to all sitting lawmakers.
“In the meantime, consultations will be held with stakeholders to draw up an appropriate SOP to be followed during the assembly session,” Ulman also said.
On Wednesday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had said, that the BJP MLA who had tested positive was part of a meeting of the ruling legislators, but added that social distancing norms were followed at the meet, which was held last month.
India on Thursday crossed the six lakh mark in the coronavirus cases with the highest spike of 19,148 positive cases and 434 deaths in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.
A total of 3,59,859 people has recovered and discharged from hospitals. The recovery rate is 59.51 per cent among the COVID-19 patients.
According to the Health Ministry data, the COVID-19 death toll has reached 17,834 in the country as the total cases mount to 6,04,641.
With a spike of 5,537 cases, Maharashtra remained the worst pandemic hit the state in the country. The state has a total of 1,80,298 cases, including 8,053 deaths.
Tamil Nadu is on the second spot with 94,049 confirmed cases, of which, 1,264 people have died, 52,926 recovered and 39,859 are active.
Delhi with a total of 89,802 cases, including 2,803 deaths and 59,992 recoveries is on the third spot.
States with more than 10,000 cases include Gujarat with 33,232 cases and 1,867 deaths, Uttar Pradesh (24,056), Rajasthan (18,312), Madhya Pradesh (13,861), West Bengal (19,170), Haryana (14,941), Karnataka (16,514), Andhra Pradesh (15,252), Telangana (17,357) and Bihar (10,249) cases.
The number of diagnostic labs is continuously increasing. India now has 1,049 diagnostic labs dedicated to COVID-19. These include 761 labs in the government sector and 288 private labs.
The overall number of global COVID-19 cases has increased to over 10.6 million, while the deaths have soared to more than 5,15,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
As of Thursday morning, the total number of cases increased to 10,667,217, while the fatalities stood at 5,15,542, the University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.
