Panaji, Jun 8 (IANS): The Goa government has started special COVID-19 test centres to look after patients who are asymptomatic or who have mild symptoms of COVID-19 state Health Secretary Nila Mohanan said, even as Health Department statistics show that 95 per cent of the patients in Goa, who have tested positive for COVID-19 are asymptomatic.

Mohanan also said, that the state government was focussing on testing persons who were either senior citizens or pregnant women, or asthamatic or symptomatic patients or those who had Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in the state's only containment zone at Mangor hill in south Goa, which accounts for a bulk of the state's 235 active COVID-19 patients.

"We have started the concept of Covid test centres, which will take care of asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic patients, who can be cared for, without the need for hospital treatment. For now, the public health centre at Shiroda (in South Goa) has been designated as a Covid care centre," Mohanan said on Monday.

As per state Health Ministry statistics, only five per cent of of the COVID-19 patients in Goa have are symptomatic, while the rest 95 per cent are asymptomatic.

Commenting on the slowdown in the testing of persons at the state's only containment centre at Mangor hill in South Goa, Mohanan said, that several Health Department workers who were posted to the area had tested positive for COVID-19, but added that the state government had decided to focus testing of the vulnerable persons in the area for COVID-19.

"We have restarted an OPD within the containment zone ... We focussed on testing on priority high vulnerable category, those 65-plus, pregnant women, children, asthmatic patients, COPD and of course those with symptoms," MOhanan said.

Eight Health Department workers attached to the state government's urban health centre in Vasco, which is located in close proximity of the containment zone, have tested positive.

The Health Secretary also said, that the Goa government was evolving a new strategy, wherein only specialist doctors would treat symptomatic patients.

"This is a new disease not just in Goa, but in India and across the world. We will evolve our strategy, because we want to keep up to date. We require our specialist doctors to be treating the symptomatic and serious patients," Mohanan said.

"The rest we can't even call them patients, because they are asymptomatic. We should be prepared for a possible increase in symptomatic patients. We have to be ready," she also said.