Panaji, May 26 (IANS): Goa may formulate a separate standard operating procedure (SOP) for incoming travellers from Maharashtra, because 90 per cent of the state's 48 active COVID-19 cases are imports from the neighbouring state, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Tuesday.

Sawant also said, that the Goa government had already informed the Union Civil Aviation and Railways Ministries about the impending fears over allowing of air and rail traffic from Maharashtra on account of the rising number of cases there.

"We are thinking separately about a separate SOP for Maharashtra, because most of our cases, 90 per cent of the patients who are positive (in Goa) are from Maharashtra. We could issue a separate SOP," Sawant told reporters on the sidelines of a state government function in South Goa.

"We have already informed the Civil Aviation Ministry and the Railway Ministry. If Goa has any to fear, it is from Maharashtra. Therefore, we are thinking about drafting a separate SOP for Maharashtra, after discussing with everyone concerned," Sawant said.

Goa currently has 48 active COVID-19 cases.