Goa To Undergo Curfew From May 9 Till May 23 Amid Increasing Covid Positivity Rate, CM Pramod Sawant Announces

Panaji: Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has announced that the state will undergo curfew from May 9 till May 23 as the positivity rate and death rate are increasing in the state. 

 A state-level curfew will be imposed in Goa from May 9 till May 23 wherein essential services including medical supplies will be allowed. Grocery stores will be allowed to remain open from 7 am – 1 pm, restaurant takeaway orders will be allowed from 7 am- 7 pm.

Goa CM Pramod Sawant informed that a detailed order will be released tomorrow in this regard.

“The positivity rate and death rate are increasing in the state. There is no shortage of oxygen and medicines in the state,” he said.

A detailed order regarding the state-level curfew will be released by 4 pm tomorrow, he added

Asked about the difference between a lockdown, which has been demanded by industry captains and travel and tourism industry stakeholders and the state level curfew which he plans to implement from May 9, he said: “Both words (lockdown and curfew) mean the same”.

“If someone is seen roaming around on the roads during curfew hours, the police will take action as per penal sections. No one should step out of home unnecessarily. Everyone should co-operate. Statewide curfew is needed to break the chain,” Sawant said.

Sawant said that the state administration would not even give permission for marriages during the curfew period, saying weddings tended to be super-spreader events. He also said that the state government was preparing infrastructure to tackle the third Covid wave.

The Opposition has described the state level curfew announcement as “lip service”.

“Goa needs bigger measures, lip service will not work. Numbers are rising and people are dying. Goa is into Covid emergency,” Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat said.

(With Agency Inputs)