There is no community transmission of COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said on Thursday.
Addressing the media, he said, “If there is community spread of the virus in the State, you [the press] and I will not be standing here. The State government has been able to identify all COVID-19-positive persons and their contacts to control its spread.”
The extended lockdown imposed by the State government had helped control the spread of the disease. Had the government not imposed the curbs, the spread of the disease would have been severe and more people would have succumbed to it, the Chief Minister said.
The reduced death rate and the increasing number of persons who had recovered from COVID-19 demonstrated that the State government had taken the necessary steps, he added.
The government had ramped up the testing of samples, and 32,000 samples were tested on Wednesday alone, Mr. Palaniswami pointed out.
He made the remarks after holding a review meeting at the Coimbatore Collectorate to take stock of the steps the district administration had taken to combat COVID-19 and after inaugurating a few schemes.
These were testing times for the State. In the absence of a medicine, adherence to physical distancing norms and other guidelines issued by the government were the only ways for the public to stay safe, he noted.
Regarding the assistance provided to various sections of society, the Chief Minister said the State government had obtained ₹4,145 crore from the Central government for distribution to 1.57 lakh MSMEs. This was 10% of the amount the Centre had earmarked.
Likewise, of the ₹200 crore package the State government had allocated towards the provision of collateral-free loans, ₹125 crore had been disbursed thus far, he said.
