Casinos could be fertile ground for Covid-19 spread: Goa lawmaker

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Yet another lawmaker has joined the opposition chorus for shutting down Goa's casino industry, with former Revenue Minister and Independent MLA Rohan Khaunte demanding a temporary shutdown of the casinos, in a letter to Goa Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

"Any learned medical opinion will not favour concentration of people in the constrained and air conditioned spaces of a casino. Goa is a world tourist destination and our future planning should be made, taking into consideration the fact that the pandemic restrictions are our new normal," Khaunte said in his letter to Koshyari, adding that the state government should try and explore more viable tourism promotions which includes nature-linked tourism.

"In view of such sensitive issues that concern the health and well-being of a concentrated demography, the decision of the Goa government to open casinos is highly irregular as it will open the floodgates to an uncontrolled spread of Covid-19 putting the lives of thousands of tourists and Goans at the mercy of the pandemic," Khaunte also said.

The Congress as well as opposition parties, like the Goa Forward, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and the Aam Aadmi Party have urged Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to postpone the resumption of the casino industry fearing further spread of the Covid-19 infections.

Khaunte said that with the festive season around the corner, the casino floor could be a fertile ground for infection spread.

"Even now, the Goa government is treading dangerously into an inopportune festive season mode throwing caution to the wind by allowing casinos to operate from November 1. Your Eminence will appreciate that with stringent checks, the casinos will prove to be a highly fertile environment for rampant spread of coronavirus," Khaunte said.

Casinos in Goa reopened on November 1 and have been instructed to maintain a 50 per cent occupancy following both the Central as well as the state government's Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

The state has six offshore and several other onshore casinos operating from five-star resorts.

Goa currently has a cumulative tally of 44,544 confirmed Covid-19 cases, out of which 2065 are active. 630 people have died in the state ever since the outbreak, after testing positive.

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