Panaji, Apr 30 (IANS): The Goa chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) urged Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to extend the ongoing four-day lockdown, by 15 more days in order to break the rising tide of Covid-19 cases in the state.

In a statement, IMA-Goa president Dr. Vinayayk Buvaji also said that the extension in lockdown would also decrease the workload on the health infrastructure in the state, in private and government sectors.

"We also wish the cases to come down steeply in a shortest possible time. Learning from the pandemic wave last year, where the lockdown was for an extended period of time which was implemented after lots of deliberations and discussions with the administrative experts IMA would be in favour of similar extended lockdown for at least 15 days from May 3, till the positivity (rate) comes down from existing 50 per cent to 10 per cent," Buvaji said.

Goa is undergoing a four-day lockdown (imposed from Thursday night) to the morning of May 3, in wake of an unprecedented increase in Covid-19 cases in the state.

The IMA statement said that people at-large in the state had already made provisions for "minimal livability" and were willing to accept an extension in lockdown.

"Everyone has been making a provision for a minimal liveability. With the massively increasing Covid numbers, the mindset of the public is already primed for acceptance of a lockdown. On the contrary people are on a backfoot to be in the public places with exceptions," Buvaji said.

Goa currently has 20,898 active Covid-19 cases, while 1,146 persons have died in the state following coronavirus-related complications. The state's infection positivity rate crept above 51 per cent on Thursday.