In view of the surge in COVID-19 cases in Coimbatore, Tiruppur and Erode districts, the Tamil Nadu government on Thursday deputed three IAS officers to coordinate steps being taken by various agencies to curb the spread of COVID-19 in these districts.
While M.A. Siddique and C. Samayamoorthy have been named monitoring officers for Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts respectively, R. Selvaraj has been named for Erode.
The decision to appoint monitoring officers was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, in which senior officials and Collectors of six districts — Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Erode, Madurai, Tiruchi and Salem — took part virtually.
During the meeting at the Secretariat, Mr. Stalin instructed the Collectors to consolidate their efforts in the coming week or two to ensure that the spread is controlled, an official release said.
Though Coimbatore and Salem districts have a higher percentage of vaccination coverage, the drive to vaccinate those in the 18-44 age group has to be intensified in the other districts, he said.
Containment efforts in the six districts are key to controlling the spread of infection in the State during the second wave, he said.
The Chief Minister said because of focused and intense efforts taken in Chennai, the spread in the city and its neighbouring areas was under control to some extent.
Mr. Stalin also advised the Collectors to capitalise on the better medical infrastructure available in these six districts, and to ensure the availability of beds to COVID-19 patients.
