CALANGUTE
: Resumption of
tourism
activities along the Calangute-Candolim belt has taken a hit after several Covid-19
cases
were detected recently.
Following 19 staffers of a five-star resort in Calangute testing positive for coronavirus, many hotels have decided to delay restarting business.
Besides this, several members of the Calangute and
Candolim
panchayats have also contracted the disease. The Candolim panchayat office has been shut, while its Calangute counterpart is restricting entry only for ‘inward’ movement of applications.
“We’re not allowing anybody to enter the office as a precautionary measure. We’ve asked senior citizens and those with health conditions against visiting the office,” Calangute panch Shawn Martins said.
Speaking to TOI, medical officer of Candolim primary health centre (PHC), Dr Roshan Nazareth said that apart from the five-star resort’s staffers, there has not been any other major incident. “They were brought to commence operations at the resort and had quarantined themselves. After 5-6 days, they displayed symptoms. After tests, they were found to be positive,” Nazareth said.
The resort’s opening has now been delayed by 17 days.
Nazareth said the panchayat members have been infected as people are not taking precautions seriously.
“When people visit the panchayat offices they don’t follow social distancing. We had asked the panchayats to place chairs where people could sit while awaiting their turn. But people push the chairs in their haste to move ahead,” he said.
With the new tourism season commencing next month, people visit panchayats to renew trade licences, pay house taxes, etc during this period. That process has now been affected.
“This season is a lost cause,” Joseph Sequeira, former Calangute sarpanch and a resort owner, said. “I’m thinking of opening my resort in November, but my priority is the health of my family and staff. If things improve we will open,” he said.
There are others who are going ahead and restarting business. “I’m going to take a risk and start my shack,” Seby D’Souza, the Candolim-based vice-president of the Shack Owners’ Welfare Society said.