No relaxation, lockdown to continue till May 3: TN govt

To Be Reviewed On Basis Of Virus Spread

Julie.Mariappan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:21.04.2020

The Tamil Nadu government on Monday decided to continue the lockdown until May 3. The relaxation of some curbs suggested by the Union government after April 20 will not be applicable in the state. The TN government will review the lockdown based on the virus spread.

The announcement was made after a 22-member expert committee led by finance secretary S Krishnan submitted an interim report to chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.

The committee made a presentation to the chief minister and senior ministers during a three-hour long meeting that discussed the activities that could be allowed and the consequences. Finally, the chief minister decided to consolidate the gains from the lockdown and not to relax the restrictions.

The expert committee considered the red flags raised by public health experts. Many of them said more data was required to take a decision.

“That is also one of the key elements. None of the public health experts says it is perfectly safe to relax curbs. The problem is that we don’t have enough data nor enough knowledge about the virus. No one is able to say what technique works,” a committee member said.

EPS, staff test negative for Covid-19

Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Monday underwent preliminary screening for coronavirus using the rapid test kit and tested negative, reports Julie Mariappan. “Got a rapid test done for chief minister at home and all the staff in chief minister’s office in Secretariat. All negative,” said a source.

The health department deployed a team from Omandurar Government Multispecialty Hospital on Anna Salai to conduct the screening in Secretariat. In all, about 300 people, including senior bureaucrats, police personnel, staff and journalists, were screened and all tested negative, sources said.

MSME sector seeks clarity on operations

Since the state ramped up testing, which was now more focused on contacts, extended contacts, containment zones and people with symptoms, the authorities expected a clearer picture would emerge in the coming days.

The committee took note of two key issues raised by industry -- export commitments and deployment of available workforce.

However, there were also concerns over the availability of vendors at different locations, which could be containment zones, and supply chain management.

IT and IT-enabled services firms said they would not need to follow the Centre’s guideline of 50% strength in offices as they had managed 95% productivity with work from home. “A lot of the industries are not keen on opening up in these circumstances,” said a member of the committee.

The MSME sector sought clarity since many thought all operations could begin after April 20, while the government was to take a call based on the recommendations of the expert committee.

“This is one reason the government issued a statement on Sunday that lockdown will continue until a decision is made. Today, the government decided not to relax curbs as it did not want to take a chance if there is a spike in cases. If we delay by two weeks, economy will suffer, and revenue receipts will take a hit, but what if people die. The economy will rebound, and we can earn later,” another committee member said.