Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Tuesday said that the lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 cannot be extended endlessly and people’s cooperation was needed to put a full stop to it soon.
“We cannot keep extending the lockdown and there has to be a full stop to this soon. It is only in people’s hands. There can be a full stop to the spread of COVID-19 only if restrictions are followed completely,” Mr. Stalin said in a recorded video message released on Tuesday morning.
As a result of the intense lockdown imposed, the spread of COVID-19 has been on the decline in Chennai and other major cities gradually across Tamil Nadu, he pointed out. Chennai, which reported about 7,000 COVID-19 positive cases per day earlier, was only reporting about 2,000 cases over the past few days.
“It will reduce further in the next few days. Cases were increasing in the western region, including Coimbatore. This has also been coming down in the past two days,” Mr. Stalin said. “Due to the efforts taken, there is no situation now wherein patients have to struggle to get a bed. There is no oxygen shortage at all. The truth is, beds are vacant in several hospitals.”
Even if a few people violated the lockdown, we will not be able to realise its complete effect, he said: “It is only because of the failure to put a full stop to the first wave that we had to face the second wave.”
People have to realise that the lockdown (imposed now) was the only option available to contain the spread of COVID-19, the CM said, and requested the people to make use of the mobile vegetable shops and ration shops which have been allowed to function by the State government during the lockdown.
Acknowledging that the livelihoods of certain sections of the general public were affected, Mr. Stalin recalled the distribution of financial assistance extended to the people. While the first instalment of ₹2,000 has been distributed, the second instalment of ₹2,000 would be distributed soon, he said, and also said economist Abhijit Banerjee has appreciated this action of the Tamil Nadu government.
During the past three weeks, since his taking over as the CM, the State government has been focusing on improving the medical infrastructure in the State, he said. Over 3 lakh people were being vaccinated a day and RT-PCR tests was being undertaken on over 1.7 lakh people a day across Tamil Nadu.
Recalling his recent visit to Coimbatore wherein he entered a COVID-19 ward in ESI Hospital donning a PPE kit, Mr. Stalin said his visit should make people remain cautious against COVID-19 and hence should follow all the lockdown restrictions.
Tamil Nadu needed to overcome the pressure on the fiscal health and medical infrastructure of the State in the second COVID-19 wave, he added and reiterated the need for the general public to strictly follow the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.
Published - June 01, 2021 11:01 am IST
