Goa govt to conduct door to door survey to identify possible COVID-19 patients

As the coronavirus pandemic rages on, the Goa government has decided to conduct door to door survey in the entire state in order to identify COVID-19 patients, an official release said on Sunday.

A four-member team will be collecting data regarding the symptoms of influenza-like illness from each household from April 13 to April 15.

Teams consisting of BLOs, primary/secondary school teachers, Aganwadi workers and meter readers, Gram sewaks, excise guards et al have been formed for the task. The data collection and mapping will be done though a mobile app.

The questions which will be asked during survey include whether anyone in the family has arrived in Goa after February 15, or has come in contact with any other person who has arrived in Goa after February 15.

Health related questions like whether anyone in the family is showing flu-like symptoms including fever, cough and difficulty in breathing or has anyone in the family has come in contact with any other person showing the above symptoms.

The survey will also record whether anyone in the family is suffering from diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney disease or respiratory disease. The survey may also record the age of family members including the head of the household.

According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of positive COVID-19 cases in Goa is seven. Till now, five people have either been cured or discharged.

The total number of positive coronavirus cases across the country on Sunday was 8,447, including 7,409 active cases of the viral infection. So far, 764 patients have either been cured or discharged while 273 deaths have been recorded in the country, as per data provided by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.