In spite of reports about India's first SARS case having been detected in Goa, authorities in the capital Panjim insist that it will not affect the tourism industry.
"There is absolutely no threat since the virus has not been passed on to anybody else from the victim in the last 18 days," Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said.
The suspected SARS victim is a Goan who had gone abroad. The state, however, has been concentrating on checking foreign tourists visiting Goa.
In any case, the tourism season in Goa is coming to an end, though 14 chartered flights from the United Kingdom, Russia and Germany are yet to arrive, apart from some 15,000 foreigners expected to come via the country's metropolitan cities. "Not a single chartered flight has been cancelled," Tourism Director N Suryanarayan said.
Suryanarayan had a special meeting with all 11 local charter tour operators, making arrangements for in-flight filling of forms and blood tests on arrival.
The state began screening charter tourists at Dabolim airport and mariners at the Mormugao harbour on April 8. Screening of domestic air travellers began much later. The tourism department has also alerted all hotels and resorts to test for SARS if any tourist is found to exhibit symptoms of the disease. "But I do not want to create unnecessary panic", said Suryanarayan.
"We are taking all possible precautions," said Parrikar, "but it is difficult to detect the virus-infected people at the airport since the symptoms become visible only after seven days."
According to Suryanarayan, 15 per cent of foreign visitors usually fall sick in Goa owing to the hot and humid weather conditions. But Dr Rajan Kunkolienkar, nodal officer of the SARS ward at the Goa Medical College Hospital, confirmed that no patient, Goan or foreign, has been reported so far, except for the solitary suspected case.
According to the chief minister, the issue is already dying out. His claim that the victim is not suffering from SARS will be verified in four days, when the second report of the victim's blood, serum, throat swam and urine comes from New Delhi.
