Goa's COVID-19 cases grow by nine to 22

Panaji, May 17 () The tally of COVID-19 patients inGoa reached 22 after nine such cases were reported on Sunday,a health department official said.

Six of the total number of patients are passengers ofthe Delhi-Thiruvananthapuram Express train, who testedpositive in the last 24 hours, the official said.

"All the 22 patients have been admitted to aspecially-designated COVID-19 hospital in Margao town," hesaid.

On May 1, Goa had been declared as green zone afterall the seven COVID-19 patients previously found in the staterecovered. However, the coastal state has witnessed a spurt inthe number of cases over the last few days.

However, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has claimed thatthere is no community transmission in the state.

As per the data available, six passengers from theRajdhani Express train that arrived on Saturday have testedpositive during last 24 hours.

Three workers, who were brought to Goa fromneighbouring states as a part of resumption of industrialunits, have also tested positive, the official said.

During the day, the state tested 997 samples that weredrawn on Sunday. Of them 527 tested negative, while nine werefound positive, the official said.

"However, results of 456 others, including the trainpassengers who arrived on Sunday from Delhi, are stillawaited," the official said.

The state government swung into action afterpassengers of the Rajadhani Express, which arrived onSaturday, tested positive.

State Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said the co-passengers, who travelled with the positive patients, havebeen taken to institutional quarantine of 14 days.

The state has moved to strengthen its testingfacilities by installing additional rapid testing (TrueNat)machines at its district hospitals in Margao, Mapusa and subdistrict hospital in Ponda. RPSNP NP