AMN
The 17-member Committee on Lockdown led by the Finance Secretary Krishnan in Tamil Nadu, submitted its report to the Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy today. The Medical Experts Committee and all the District Collectors have also given their views to the Chief Minister on how to go about relaxing the restrictions once the blanket lockdown gets over.
Meanwhile, number of new COVID-19 infected cases has exceeded the mark of two hundred on a single day in the state today. In all, 203 people were newly confirmed with the disease including 176 in Chennai. The total infected cases stands at 2,526 though the active caseload is 1,183. A senior citizen in Chennai lost his battle against the disease today taking the total fatalities to 28.
The State Government is to make an announcement on relaxing the restrictions in tune with the Union Home Ministry guidelines after the Cabinet meeting, which is expected tomorrow. Health Minister Dr Vijayabhaskar claims that the state is still in the safe zone. He has said the number of tests has increased to the country’s highest of 9,615 on a single day today, which is being further augmented. He said, the current testing rate is 165 per lakh people as against the national average of 65 per lakh. He maintains that the state also ranks first in the discharge of patients at 54 per cent and the fatality rate of 1.1 per cent.
Meanwhile, as the COVID-19 spread in Chennai is seeing a steep hike for the past few days, the state government has appointed the Revenue and Disaster Management Principal Secretary as the special nodal officer to coordinate the preventive measures along with the City Commissioner.