Aam Aadmi Party Goa has demanded the shut down of Casinos due to an increase in Covid cases. The recent report has exhibited the sudden spike in Covid cases amongst the staff of the offshore Casinos in Goa posing a major challenge in front of the Goans.
According to the media reports published last week it was exposed that there is no social distancing and people entering the casinos were not wearing masks and very next day the report of more than 30 employees of offshore Casino were tested positive.
The AAP on Monday demanded the closure of Casinos due to the fear of an increase in cases of Novel Coronavirus in the state.
Addressing a press conference in Panaji on Monday, Goa Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Surel Tilve said, if the rush to the state’s casinos is not controlled, the state may witness a second wave of infections.
“It is already difficult to control the flow of tourists to Goa’s casinos. It is getting out of control. Covid-19 cases in casinos have also increased. The government is just trying to appease the lobby by allowing this trend to continue,” Tilve told a press conference in Panaji.
“We fear that if the chaos continues, Goa may witness a second Covid-19 wave sooner than later,” Tilve said. Goa has a confirmed tally of 46,826 positive cases, while 677 persons have died in the state after testing positive for Covid-19.
Goa’s state capital Panaji, where most of the offshore casinos are anchored in the River Mandovi, witnessed chaos over the weekend with thousands of tourists making a beeline for casinos without maintaining social distancing norms and wearing masks.
The melee even forced Panaji MLA Atanasio Monserrate to step out onto the streets with local municipality officials in tow, in a bid to manage the traffic chaos as well as fine casino visitors for not wearing masks.
When asked about the increase in Covid-19 cases detected in Goa’s casinos, the BJP MLA said: “You can ask the Chief Minister that because he has permitted the casinos to open”.
Casino operations, which were shut down in Goa in March due to the pandemic, restarted operations from November 1 this year. There are six offshore and around 10 onshore casinos operating in the state.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has directed that all casinos should follow both the state as well as the Central government SOPs on resumption.
(with inputs from IANS)
