For attending parties or entering restaurants in Goa, Pramod Sawant, the state’s chief minister, announced on Wednesday that a person must provide either a negative Covid-19 report or a double vaccination certificate.
Sawant told reporters that the state government would issue a detailed order to this effect on Wednesday evening. Despite the fact that several states have restored night curfews in reaction to the Omicron warning, the state government has decided to skip it for the time being in order to protect the tourism industry during the Christmas-New Year festive season.
Sawant has assured that his government is checking up on the Covid-19 situation in the state and will take preventive measures if needed during the task force meeting on January 3.
According to tourist sector stakeholders, hotels in the state are already over 90% full, and beaches are already swamped with revellers, just in time for the New Year’s celebration.
“There have been five to seven percent cancellations in hotel bookings,” said Nilesh Shah, head of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG), speaking to news agency PTI.
The state health department reported a sudden spike in coronavirus cases in Goa on Tuesday, with 112 people testing positive for the infection. The coastal state has 67 cases as of Monday. According to official data, the caseload rose to 1,80,229 on Tuesday, while the death toll rose to 3,520, with one patient dying as a result of the virus. So yet, only one incidence of the Omicron variety has been reported in the state.