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As Goa’s healthcare system crumbles,patients battle more than just virus | Goa News – Times of India

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PANAJI: While health officials blame Covid-19 deaths on people reaching hospitals late, citizens have a different story to tell. They say that the overwhelmed healthcare system not only releases their test results late, but also leaves them waiting for hours in casualty wards when their symptoms worsen. In addition to this, they wait in hope to get a hospital bed.
In one such instance, a senior citizen who had been waiting for his RT-PCR result turned breathless and had to be rushed to hospital. His daughter, Rima, said his results came five days after he had taken the test and three days after he was admitted to hospital. “He initially assumed he had gotten the common cold as he had eaten a cold dessert, and began taking paracetamol. Every time we inquired about his test result, those concerned told us it would come. The infection ultimately reached his lungs and he had a bad CT score,” Rima told TOI.
Unfortunately, family members who were unaware of the senior citizen’s status and tried to help him, also ended up contracting the virus.
Although he was taken to the North Goa district hospital and put on oxygen, just four hours had passed when the hospital’s authorities told the family to shift him to the GMC owing to a shortage of beds. “After making a few calls at the GMC, were were able to get him into the casualty ward where a CT scan was done and hospitalisation at the South Goa district hospital was recommended,” Rima said. “He waited for almost three hours for the ambulance to take him from GMC to the South Goa district hospital as only one patient in allowed in an ambulance at a time. By the time he was admitted, it was past 4am.”
A doctor told TOI that beds cannot be freed up on time at the South Goa district hospital as ambulances that transfer patients from there to a step-down facility like the ESI hospital, take time to arrive, leaving patients waiting for hours. Another health official said there is intense pressure on the ambulance service as it has to attend not only to Covid-19 patients but also to non-Covid cases.
In a similar incident, a young man who was Covid-positive with high fever went to the GMC at around 9.30am and after getting a CT scan done, was recommended hospitalisation at the South Goa district hospital. “I was sent there at 1pm in an ambulance but had to wait for four hours in casualty for a bed to be freed,” he told TOI.
He said that although he had contacted a doctor at a private hospital for a bed and was put on the waiting list, he hadn’t yet received a call. What’s more is that he received his RT-PCR report three days into home isolation, when his fever began to rise.
A mother of two who tested positive but wasn’t being monitored during home isolation by the government doctor concerned, was also referred to the South Goa district hospital casualty by a private doctor when her fever didn’t subside. She got out of the hospital after seven hours feeling worse.
“There was a big queue in casualty. There were serious and not too serious cases there, while others were being brought from the GMC. Once I got inside, there was another queue after which a doctor checked my temperature, blood pressure, oxygen levels and told me to do an X-ray. I was then told that the radiologist had gone to Hospicio to conduct a sonography and would be back around 6pm,” she told TOI.
“I decided to wait until the radiologist arrived at 730pm. I felt so sick while waiting that I had to go back into casualty and ask for some tablets as my fever was rising. There was a woman who was almost fainting and others more serious than me. It was a very sad scene,” she added.
Karen, a Panaji-based citizen, said it was “ridiculous” and “irresponsible” for the government to blame people for coming in late. “When they come in on time, where is the infrastructure for them? Some are waiting for results and don’t know what to do with their symptoms. The government should have foreseen the rise in testing and shouldn’t have let a backlog build up,” she said.
A private doctor, on the other hand, suggested rapid antigen testing for symptomatic people so as not to waste time in providing treatment.

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Broke Swiggy guy walks 3 km to deliver food, Social media helps him find better job. Heartwarming story is viral

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Social media can be a wondrous place at times. While on most days, its ugly face is on display, on days like today, it sets examples of the power of kindness. In a social media post, a LinkedIn user shared how a delivery executive, in need of money and a better job, bagged one after the users on the platform came together to help the person out.

Priyanshi Chandel, Marketing Manager at tech company Flash, shared an incident about a Swiggy delivery agent who had come to deliver food at her residence. When she asked the late and out-of-breath delivery person, identified by her as Sahil Singh, about what happened, he told her that he had no transport and had to walk 3 km to deliver the order.

He also said that he was out of money and had nothing left to pay his landlord too. Singh told her that he was not looking for money from her but requested her to help him bag a job. He said that he had a degree in Electrical and Communication Engineering, and had worked with Byju’s and Ninjacart before. He had to move back to Jammu during the pandemic.

“I have not eaten for a week, just drinking water and tea to get by. I am not asking for anything, please if you can find me a job, I used to make 25k before, I am 30 years old, my parents are getting old and I can’t keep asking for money from them (sic),” Chandel quoted saying.

She also shared his marksheets and contact number for people to help. His details shared show that he is a 2018 BTech graduate from Mewar University, and completed his schooling from the Jammu and Kashmir state board.

After she shared the details, the comments section was filled with people who stepped up to help. While someone recharged his Yulu account so that he did not have to walk around to deliver food, someone offered a place to stay. Many offered to help him with his applications, while some offered jobs too.

Chandel, later on put an update on the post, and said that he received a job.

However, so far it is unclear what job he has received.

2023 has so far been a year of job losses, an eventual outcome of the pandemic and increased hiring by tech companies. For instance, the SSC MTS 2023 recruitment exam that took place in Uttar Pradesh in May saw over 55 lakh applications for Group D jobs. Numerous candidates who applied for positions such as peon, watchman, gardener had educational backgrounds like BTech, MBA, and Master’s degrees.

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Goa CM, NRI Commissioner writes to MoEF for help in safe return of Goans from Ukraine

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Panaji: Goa chief minister Dr Pramod Sawant on Thursday urged Union Minister for External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar to help in safe return of Goans who are in the Ukraine.

Sawant tweeted “we are concerned about the Goans in Ukraine who are considering to return to India in the light of ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis. I request Union Minister for External Affairs @DrSJaishankar ji for help in the safe return of Goans. I am keeping track of the situation.”

The chief minister’s tweet comes hours after Goa’s NRI Commissioner Narendra Sawaikar wrote to the Union External Affairs ministry seeking help in return of Goans who are in the Ukraine.

“Many Goans are currently residing in Ukraine due to various purposes including higher studies and due to the ongoing tension between Russia and Ukraine, I have started receiving requests for help and assistance from them to return back to India,” Sawaikar wrote.

The Commissioner further wrote in the letter that advisories have already been issued by the Ministery of External Affairs to Indians currently in Ukraine and our Indian Mission in Kyiy is currently handling the matter.

“Striking note of urgency, the Government of India has recently asked the family members of Embassy officials in Ukraine as well as students and citizens whose stay is not vital , to leave the Eastern European nation amid it’s raising tensions with Russia,” the letter reads.

Sawaikar wrote that the Goans in Ukraine are in touch with this office as they are anxious to temporarily return till the situation normalizes.

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Election Commission announces polling dates and counting days for Vidhan Sabha elections in 5 states

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On Saturday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the dates for the Vidhan Sabha elections in 5 States, namely, Goa, Punjab, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

While briefing the media, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra informed that the elections in the poll-bound States will commence from February 10, 2022, to March 7, 2022. Elections in the State of Uttar Pradesh will be conducted in 7 phases, followed by Manipur with 2 phases. Elections in Goa, Uttarkhand and Punjab will be conducted in a single phase.

According to the Election Commission of India, the votes will be counted on March 10, 2022. ECI informed that all physical campaigning will be ceased until January 15, 2022, in light of the rising cases of Coronavirus.

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