Goa shuts schools, colleges amid COVID-19 surge; CM says night curfew will also be imposed

Panaji: The Goa government on Monday decided to close schools and colleges till January 26 in the wake of a rise in COVID-19 cases in the coastal state.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who chaired the Task Force’s meeting on COVID-19 on Monday, told reporters that the Goa government would also impose a night curfew in the state.

Goa reported 10.7 percent COVID-19 positivity rate on Sunday.

“It has been decided to close the physical sessions for classes 8 and 9 in schools from tomorrow till January 26,” Shekhar Salkar, a member of the Task Force, told reporters in Panaji. Students of classes 11 and 12 would have to attend the school to take the vaccine against COVID-19. “Once they are vaccinated, they need not attend the classes till January 26,” Salkar said.

The colleges in the coastal state would also be shut till January 26, he said.

The official further said the order for imposing night curfew between 11 pm and 6 am every day will be issued by the state administration either on Monday or Tuesday.

The weekly COVID-19 positivity in the state is around five percent due to which the restrictions have been imposed, he said. The state government would also enforce restrictions on indoor activities, he said.

The official also said that though the number of COVID-19 cases in the state was high, the deaths and hospitalization rate were low. On Sunday, Goa reported 388 new COVID-19 cases, taking the infection tally in the state to 1,81,570, while one death raised the toll to 3,523, as per official data.