Goa: 3 flights arrive, 10 of scheduled 13 cancelled

On the first day of resumption of

domestic flights on Monday amidst the lockdown, only three services touched down in Goa, while ten others were cancelled, state Health Secretary Nila Mohanan said.

Mohanan, however, said reasons of the 10 cancellations among the 13 scheduled arrivals were not known.

"The first flight landed from Bengaluru while the other two were from Delhi," she said.

The standard operating procedure (SOP) set by the Goa government lays down that arriving passengers need to have a COVID-19 negative certificate from an ICMR-accredited lab, or must pay Rs 2,000 for testing or spend 14 days in home quarantine.

 

Mohanan said there was no confusion among passengers about the SOP declared by the state government, adding that it would also apply to people who arrive in the state by road or train from Tuesday.

She said tourists are discouraged from coming as the state government advisory clearly mentions that hotels are not operational.

Meanwhile, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant thanked Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri for keeping the number of flights low.

"Thank you @HardeepSPuri Ji for considering my request to restrict the number of flights coming to Goa to bare minimum. With stringent measures in place, we expect that all non essential travel to the state will be discouraged, thereby strengthening Goa's fight against #COVID19," Sawant tweeted.

The state's COVID-19 tally reached 67 on Monday after one person tested positive for novel coronavirus.

Goa's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases: 67, new cases: one, deaths: nil, discharged: 19, active cases 48, Samples tested till date: 12,860.