As time goes on and we learn to live through the pandemic, severe economic losses in the sectors of tourism and hospitality have forced the hand in many parts of India. Around a month ago, Goa opened up its borders to domestic tourists on the condition that they have a negative coronavirus test result. Tourist spots in Karnataka were also opened 2 months ago.
But while we all want to return to normalcy and save people from destitution, the decision to open things up while our cases are still multiplying rapidly might not be the best idea.
In April this year, Goa had been declared Covid-free. By closing off borders and ramping up health infrastructure, the state had managed to keep the disease at bay. The trouble is, Goa runs on tourism, so a restriction on travel led to massive losses in revenue.
This was followed by 3 waves of Covid-19 spread, in the midst of which domestic tourism was opened and around 250 hotels were allowed to start functioning. Currently, Goa has over 14,000 confirmed cases and 3000 active cases.
Considering Goa went from zero to over 3000 active cases, it might not be the best move to open up tourism. Similarly, Karnataka just scrapped all covid travel restrictions, despite having over 2.83 lakh confirmed cases and 81,000 active cases.
Karnataka removed all the restrictions brought in since March – You no longer need to obtain an e-pass or stay in 14-day quarantine, and hand-stamping has been scrapped as well. The state has banned medical check-up at state borders, bus stations, railways stations and airports. However, there has been a spurt in cases, which clashes with the moves being introduced.
Considering such a high number of daily cases being registered, it feels counter-intuitive to remove the safety measures put in place. Both Goa and Karnataka have seen a rise in cases since opening up, and that begs the question of whether it was correct to open the states up or not. Considering the pandemic is far from over, it doesn’t seem like a great idea to go currently.