Goa now first Indian state with zero Covid-19 case; all patients discharged

Goa CM Sawant said that all the agencies, including the health department and police, worked in tandem for the results

Goa is now India's first state to be coronavirus free as it has zero positive cases after all seven infected patients were discharged on Sunday.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Sunday said all the seven persons are natives of Goa, but six of them returned to the state from abroad.

"The repeat samples of the seven Covid-19 patients have tested negative for the infection. While six of them had been discharged earlier, the last patient was discharged on Sunday," Sawant said, news agency PTI reported.

He said that after their recovery, all of them have been shifted to a quarantine facility, where they will be kept under observation for the next few days.

The last of the seven Covid-19 cases in the state was detected on April 3. The state government has set up a dedicated hospital to treat coronavirus patients. It has also set up a laboratory at Goa Medical College and Hospital (GHMC) for testing.

Sawant said that all the agencies, including the health department and police, worked in tandem to bring the results.

He said his government will write to the Centre to inform it that all the patients have been cured and discharged, and no fresh cases have been reported in the state.

"It is up to the Centre to declare Goa as a green zone," he said.

The chief minister said that though the number of positive cases have come down to zero, citizens should continue to remain at home during the lockdown.

"The restrictions during the lockdown period will continue. We will go as per the central government's guidelines," he said.

Meanwhile, State Health Minister Vishwajit Rane tweeted, "We are proud to announce that all the patients that were reported positive in the state of Goa have recovered from the Covid-19. The active number of cases in Goa now stands at zero."

Zero indeed has great value! Immensely happy to announce that all the COVID-19 positive cases in the state are now NEGATIVE. Very grateful to our Doctors & frontline workers who worked tirelessly & risked their lives to save others. #GoaFightsCovid19 #COVIDfree pic.twitter.com/ZiUlAmDh25

— VishwajitRane (@visrane) April 19, 2020

In a separate statement, he said, "While we currently do not have any active case in the state, it is our responsibility to keep in mind the importance of lockdown, maintain social distance increase the scope of testing and adhere to norms and guidelines issued by both central and state government."

"My deepest gratitude to our warriors, the excellent team of doctors headed by Dr Edwin at ESI hospital for working tirelessly to counter the menace of this deadly virus...," Rane added.

As per the government data, 758 people were tested for the virus in the coastal state.