Panaji, Mar 15 (IANS): Occasional bouts of coughing and a rare sneeze at Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's media briefing on precautions for COVID-19, here on Saturday, appear to have irked Opposition.

In a statement after the briefing, during which Sawant ordered closure of educational institutions and several indoor public spaces, Leader of in the Goa Assembly Digambar Kamat said the government's unpreparedness over the coronavirus pandemic was evident from the coughing and sneezing at the press meet.

"The unpreparedness of the Goa government to handle the spread of coronavirus was clear as coughing and sneezing continued during the media briefing of the Chief Minister," Kamat said.

The press conference was organised at the Chief Minister's official residence here and was also attended by Health Minister Vishwajit Rane and top bureaucrats.

Sawant was about to start explaining that he had sought advice from the dean of the state's top government hospital about the spread of coronavirus, when a media person coughed. To this, the Chief Minister said: "Don't cough".

The Chief Minister's interjection invoked peals of laughter from the media contingent as well as the government officials.