Panaji:
The coronavirus testing lab set up at Goa Medical College and Hospital failed to take off on Tuesday after it developed a snag, said Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.
He said 55 samples had to be, therefore, sent to NIV, Pune for testing.
“I will not be able to tell you what exactly went wrong but we could not get tests started. The fault will be rectified and testing is likely to begin from tomorrow,” the CM said.
Goa has five COVID-19 patients as on Tuesday.
Sawant also said stickers would be placed on the doors of houses of people advised home quarantine, adding the move was not about discrimination but awareness.
Sawant said Rs 120 crore of the Rs 400 crore in the Goa Iron Ore Permanent Fund would be used to fight the novel coronavirus outbreak.
He said some 7000-8000 Goans working as seafarers are stuck in foreign countries.
“We will have to solve this issue along with Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the NRI Commissioner. We have to also think on how to quarantine them when they arrive,” he said.
