Panaji, November 18: The Goa government is drawing up a new standard operating procedure (SOP) for hotels amid the ongoing tourist season, state health minister Vishwajit Rane said on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Rane said that coastal state will not seal its borders to keep out tourists.

"We are in the process of issuing guidelines for hotels, which will make it mandatory for them to reserve one room as an isolation room on their property," the minister said. Any guest who tests positive for coronavirus, but is asymptomatic, can be put up in the isolation room on hotel premises, he said. Goa Assembly Elections 2022: Free Electricity Up to 200 Units if Voted to Power, Says AAP.

Rane further said that constant monitoring of patients in home isolation has brought down the COVID-19 mortality rate in the state. "We don't get patients in a breathless stage any more, as we are monitoring their health in home isolation," he said.

Referring to Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha's statement about poor health infrastructure in Goa, Rane offered a tour of the state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital to show the robust infrastructure put in place by the Goa government. "People in Delhi have to pay for their treatment, while Goa is the only state that provides free treatment for COVID-19," he said.