PANAJI: The state government has extended the state-wide curfew for another seven days till June 14, but has announced a few relaxations as part of a calibrated easing strategy.
Announcing the extension, chief minister Pramod Sawant said that essential stores will be allowed to remain open till 3pm, while stores dealing with home repairs and monsoon essentials will also be allowed to reopen.
“Our government has decided to extend the state level curfew till 7am on June 14,” he tweeted.
“Timings for essential shops as defined will be increased to 7am to 3pm.
In addition, shops, stores related to house and building repairs, monsoon preparedness, or rain protection and stationery items will be allowed to open.” Sawant’s announcement caught many by surprise, since the chief minister himself had announced that a review meeting would be held on Sunday to take stock of Goa’s Covid trajectory and decide whether or not to continue with the curfew.
Formal orders regarding the extension of the state level curfew will be issued by collectors of the South Goa and North Goa districts.
On Saturday, Goa reported 567 fresh Covid-19 cases and 17 mortalities.
The state’s positivity rate and active case load continues to drop, with 8,216 active cases as on Saturday.
Recoveries, too, have outpaced the addition of new infections.
After a lot of reluctance, the curfew was imposed in Goa on May 9 after Covid cases surged and the healthcare sector was swamped with patients.
During the curfew, stores selling essential items, grocery shops, liquor stores were allowed to stay open from 7am to 1pm, while medical stores and restaurant kitchens are allowed to function till 7 pm.
While the opposition has been in favour of the curfew continuing, environment minister Nilesh Cabral is of the opinion that the state needs to open up as economic activity needs to resume.
The government has already asked its departments to start functioning with full capacity.
Higher education institutes have also announced that they will reopen from Monday onwards for staff though online classes will continue.