Second wave still on in Goa; third wave expected after Ganesh Chaturthi: Official

The second Covid wave in Goa has not ended yet, said Shekhar Salkar, a member of the state government's expert committee for Covid management, on Monday.
Salkar told reporters here that Goa is well prepared to handle the third wave of the pandemic, which he said may hit the state after the Ganesh Chaturthi festivities later this month.

"The second wave has not ended yet. There will be a dip, which will be followed by a spike. We expect it (third wave) to happen after (Ganesh) Chaturthi. We are well prepared. Our workers are in every village," Salkar said.

"It (third wave) has to take place. Scientifically speaking, it will come. I hope that the chances of infectivity and death rates will be much less, because we are fully vaccinated. If it (third wave) is delayed by a month, we will have 60-70 per cent double dose vaccination," Salkar said.

The official also said that currently the state is witnessing 2.6 per cent positivity rate for RT-PCR tests and 1.4 per cent positivity rate when it comes to Rapid Antigen test results.

There are currently 900 active Covid cases in the state, while 3,208 persons have died to Covid-related complications ever since the pandemic emerged last year - IANS