Former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Digambar Kamat on Friday urged the Goa government to provide police protection to whole sellers and retailers shops who are selling basic essential commodities during the 21-day lockdown period.
In a statement Kamat thanked Goa Governor Satya Pal Malik for his "timely intervention" and welcomed the decision of the government to keep open the shops supplying basic essential commodities like milk, groceries, vegetables, fruits etc. This will give huge relief to people specially infants and old age people, he said.
"I urge the government to provide police protection to all the wholesellers and retailers shops who are selling basic essential commodities. It is also important to deploy police team in important markets like Margao, Panaji, Vasco, Mapuca, Bicholim and other areas. The police presence and supervision will help in bringing in discipline to maintain person-to-person distancing," Kamat added.
He has further urged the shopkeepers to make marking in front of their respective shops which will help customers to stand in orderly manner. The shopkeepers have agreed not to open their shops till such marking is done, he said.
"As three positive cases of COVID-19 virus are reported in Goa, the need to have an isolated quarantine centre has emerged. I once again demand to the government to immediately take steps of setting up the isolation centre away from Goa Medical College," Kamat said.
"It is important to track those who were in contact with these three patients. Immediate steps are required to be taken to identify them and isolate them with home quarantine or with admission in quarantine wards. The community testing needs to be initiated by the government without any further delay," he added.