7 new Covid-19 cases in Goa: CM

Panaji, May 14 (IANS) All employees of two roadside eateries in Goa had been quarantined after they came in contact with a truck driver, who tested Covid-19 positive, said Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, here on Thursday.

The truck driver had come to Goa from Vapi in Gujarat. After delivering consignment, he had visited the two dhabas. “All who came in contact with the driver have been quarantined,” Sawant said.

Seven people, including the truck driver and a family of five along with their driver, tested positive in Goa on Thursday. They have been shifted to the designated Covid hospital.

It’s the first instance of detection of Covid-19 cases in Goa since the first week of April.

According to Sawant, the thermal gun was not a surefire method as it could be beaten by use of paracetamol drug, which brings body temperature down. He said this when asked how the truck driver’s viral infection was not detected during screening at Goa’s borders.

He, however, said Goa was the only state that was checking all persons for Covid-19 at the border. Without this, instead of just seven we could have had 70 cases, he said.

When asked if Goa’s green zone status would be downgraded in light of the new cases, Sawant said the decision to designate zones to particular states and regions depended on the central government.

–IANS

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