It would be logistically not possible to shut down inter-state borders between Goa and its neighbouring states Karnataka and Maharashtra, which have seen a spurt in coronavirus cases over the last few days, Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said on Friday.

The Health Minister’s comments come on a day when the country’s first coronavirus-related death occurred in Karnataka.

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When asked whether the Goa government was considering shutting down the road borders between Karnataka and Maharashtra in view of the lockdown in Maharashtra, which has recorded 14 positive coronavirus cases and the coronavirus-related death in Karnataka, Rane said: “We have to sit down and work it out. We cannot shut down the borders just like that... I am being very frank, for screening at the borders, the logistics and personnel involved is very high”.

Calling the global coronavirus pandemic an “unprecedented situation”, Rane also said that the Goa government had invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 on Friday, which gives the state Health Ministry sweeping powers to ban assembly in public spaces as well as increase vigilance efforts to rein in the viral outbreak.

“We have to take strict and stringent measures. We are lucky that we do not have a single case. We are surrounded by Maharashtra and Karnataka where we see cases increasing every day,” Rane said.

“I advocate minimum travel and minimum movement,” the Health Minister added.

Rane also said, that he had recommended cancellation of classes up to Class IX in the state’s schools, as a preventive measure.

Not a single positive case of coronavirus has been reported in Goa as of Friday.