COVID-19 | Goa relaxes restrictions – What’s allowed & what’s not

The state recorded 164 new cases on the day, taking its total tally to 167,436. It also registered 4 deaths, taking the fatality count to 3,073.

Jocelyn Fernandes

July 05, 2021 / 08:53 IST

Night curfew will remain in effect in Goa. The curfew was first imposed on May 9 amid the second wave of coronavirus cases in the state and has been since periodically renewed. (Representational Image)

The Goa government on July 4 extended the COVID-19 curfew across the state by a week till July 12 but also announced a few relaxations in restrictions.

The state recorded 164 new cases on the day, taking its total tally to 167,436. It also registered 4 deaths, taking the fatality count to 3,073.

Relaxations were announced by state Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on July 4 and will remain in place till July 12.

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What is allowed?

- Social, political, cultural gatherings allowed for up to 100 people or 50 percent of venue capacity.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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