Panaji, January 1: Amid the COVID-19 outbreak and raising concerns over its variant strain, the new year celebrations were lukewarm this year owing to the various restriction and SOPs imposed by the governments. However, Goa has been fully engulfed in the spirit of celebrations, flouting all the norms and protective guidelines issued to curtail the virus from spreading. Goa: 37 UK Returnees Test COVID-19 Positive.

People in the state were seen enjoying the last day of the year, without wearing masks or following social distancing norms. Various beaches and the tourist spots were swamped by people, completely carefree of the COVID-19 pandemic. This comes even a s the cases of new more infectious strain of coronavirus are increasingly being detected in the country. Sunburn Goa 2020 to Be Held in December Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, Netizens Are Not Impressed! Check Out Sunburn Festival Dates, Rules, Guidelines, Tickets and More Here.

See Visuals from New Year Celebartions in Goa Here: 

The central government has repeatedly asked the state and UTs to ensure that COVID-19 appropriate behaviour is followed during on the new year, the Goa government failed to take any action to avoid the over-crowding of tourists spot and imposing necessary restrictions.

Goa CM Pramod Sawant on Thursday had said, " 40-45 lakh tourists are recorded to have entered Goa on the account of celebrating the new year on Dec 31. We are implementing all COVID-19 protocols making people aware about its importance," However no stringent protective measure came into force.

Citing the instructions received from the Centre, Goa Health Minister also tweeted on Thursday that, "Goa being a tourism state, it is imperative to have strict SOPs in place, to sustain tourism activities in keeping with COVID-19 guidelines." Rane also tweeted that, he had spoken to the Goa CM for imposing night curfew, adding, "the file is already in process. Strict SOPs is the need of the hour as Goa is a tourist state."

Owing to the huge crowds flouting COVID-19 norms on the streets,  medical professionals and health officials were also worried. “People are moving around without wearing masks. Tourist places are crowded. I would wait till the second week of January to see if there are any ripple effects,” a government health official told TOI on condition of anonymity.

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 01, 2021 01:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).