Experts predict Goa's daily covid tally to reach 10-15k by January 20!

With the 3^rd wave hitting it’s peak around January 20, Dr Shekhar Salkar, a member of Goa government’s expert committee on Covid management, feels that the cases in Goa may surge to 10,000 to 15,000 cases per day.

Goa anticipates a massive hike in cases

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Salkar also took positives in the plateauing of new infections in Maharashtra, saying that in terms of trends and patterns, the Mumbai infection cycle was only 10-15 days ahead of Goa. Notably, Mumbai recorded a considerable dip of 17% with 13,702 cases on Thursday, against over 16,000 on Wednesday

Salkar also added that "Goa has not reached its peak yet. The positivity rate is at around 30%. The Omicron wave in Goa is going to be three to four times more than the Delta wave as infectivity is high. The expectation is that over the next 10 days, maybe by January 20, we will be seeing around 10,000 to 15,000 cases per day."

Goa is at a critical juncture!

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Describing the next 7-10 day period as critical, Salkar said, "Cases in Mumbai are plateauing over the last three days. The numbers there have not increased. We are around 10-15 days behind Mumbai and by January 23-24 our cases may also climb down. But we will see a peak around 20th January. We may see 10,000 to 15,000 new cases everyday," Salkar said, describing the next "seven to 10 day" period as a critical one.

"The next seven to ten-day period is most important for us. Even though (third wave) it is less lethal, there could still be pressure on admissions because doctors and sisters are getting infected. We need to take precautions, wear masks, maintain social distancing, sanitisation, etc," he said.

- With inputs from IANS