panaji after reporting zero hospitalisations due to covid19 on most days over the past few months goa saw a spurt of seven hospitalisations on monday alone the last time the state reported as many hospitalisations was in midfebruary two of the patients admitted on monday are at the gmc and five are in private hospitals none of them have been reported to be in the icu or require ventilator support gmc dean dr s bandekar said all of the five patients admitted to private hospitals are above the age of 80 years and are at risk of fluctuating spo2 levels goa reported 78 new covid19 infections on monday taking the active tally to 761 a total of 696 samples were tested with a case positivity rate of 112 state epidemiologist dr utkarsh betodkar said no major outbreak or clusters of infections have been seen most active cases are spread out across the state with the majority being in south goas salcete area particularly in and around margao town the variant in circulation continues to be omicron ba2 more than 30 samples were recently tested at the genome sequencing lab at asilo hospital where all were found to be of this variant itself these days it is important to take care of the elderly and people with comorbidities by getting them fully vaccinated and reducing their exposure to covid19 if they have symptoms it is necessary to get them tested and treated as soon as possible betodkar said the state is witnessing a rise in covid19 cases but it is not known how the wave will progress infections are being reported daily and we see the number slowly rising but we will have to wait and watch to find out whether it will be a small peak or whether the wave will continue for sometime he said wherever necessary especially in crowded places it is recommended to wear a mask and observe social distancing testing continues at the goa airport where two per cent of international passengers are tested for the virus