Panaji, May 24 (IANS): Nearly 4,000 persons are expected to arrive in Goa on Monday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said, while also urging tourists not to travel to Goa, with hotels in the state still shut due to the lockdown.

"We have not invited tourists to Goa. Some people are claiming that Goa is starting 'COVID tourism'. We are not fools. Until now, not a single hotel is open... If you plan to stay in a hotel, do not come to Goa," Sawant told a press conference late on Sunday.

The Chief Minister also said that nearly 2,000 persons were expected to arrive in Goa by air on Monday, with the Union Ministry for Civil Aviation allowing domestic commercial flights from May 25.

"We estimate that around 4,000 could come to Goa on Monday, 2,000 passengers by air and 1,000 each by road and rail," Sawant said.

Sawant also said that most of the people arriving in Goa will either be returning to their own homes or second homes or were expected to stay with their relatives in the state.

According to a new SOP, Sawant said from Monday onwards anyone travelling to Goa will either have to furnish a COVID-19 negative certificate issued by a lab endorsed by the Indian Council for Medical Research or pay Rs 2000 for a throat swab test or spend 14 days in strictly monitored home quarantine.

"Persons who violate home quarantine norms and are found outside their residential premises would be placed in paid institutional quarantine," Sawant said.