Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami will on Monday hold a meeting with the medical experts’ committee to decide on the future of the COVID-19 lockdown in Tamil Nadu.
Responding to a question from a journalist in Salem on the possibility of the lockdown being extended beyond June 30, he said that a decision would be taken after the meeting with medical experts at the Secretariat.
The decision of Southern Railway to cancel the special trains within Tamil Nadu till July 15, citing a “request” from the State government on account of the rising number of COVID-19 cases, had triggered speculation over the likelihood of the lockdown being extended.
Maintaining that the government would act as per recommendations of medical experts, a senior official said, “A smart containment strategy, with focused testing, will ideally be preferred, but without hearing what the medical experts have to say, it will be too premature to say anything.”
Earlier in the evening, after inspecting construction of the Advanced Institute for Integrated Research on Livestock and Animal Sciences in Thalaivasal in Salem, the Chief Minister accused Leader of the Opposition M.K. Stalin, again, of politicking over the pandemic.
“He [the DMK president] is issuing only political statements through the media every day. Has he said anything about controlling the spread of the disease? He has only been issuing statements criticising the State government and the Chief Minister, on a daily basis, as he is just remaining in his house,” Mr. Palaniswami charged.
“Has he stepped out? He went out for a few days and projected himself as providing relief to the people. Unlike them, the Deputy Chief Minister, the Ministers, other public representatives and I are involved in providing relief to the affected people and preventing the spread of the disease, as far as possible,” the Chief Minister contended.
He reiterated that the ratio of the number of deaths to the number of positive cases was less in Tamil Nadu, compared to other States, and this was due to the “right action” taken by the State government.
‘Govt.’s responsibility’
Healthcare workers have been treating COVID-19 patients in accordance with advice from medical experts. “As far as the government is concerned, it is its responsibility to save the patients and the entire government machinery is striving towards it,” he said. The government had provided cash relief and free rations even to migrant workers, he said. Mr. Palaniswami said that several companies had requested permissions to bring back migrant workers, as they were ready to return.
He also laid the foundation for pipeline-relaying works for the combined water supply scheme to Attur and Narasingapuram municipalities and 20 town panchayats in Salem district.
