TN wants lockdown extended by two weeks, but will await PM’s call

Julie.Mariappan@timesgroup.com

Chennai:12.04.2020

The state government on Saturday said it favoured a two-week extension of the lockdown, but would wait for word from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Given that the PM is going to make an announcement on extension of nationwide lockdown, the state cabinet decided to fully accept and implement it,” chief secretary K Shanmugam said. He was briefing the media about the PM’s video-conference with all chief ministers and the state cabinet meeting that followed.

While a few states announced extension on their own, Tamil Nadu with the third highest number of Covid-19 positive cases after Maharashtra and Delhi cannot act on its own, Shanmugam said. “It is not a decision to be taken by a single state. Ours will be in tune with the PM’s announcement,” he added. During the video-conference CM Edappadi K Palaniswami suggested extension of the lockdown by two weeks, Shanmugam said.

A meeting of the state cabinet in the evening reviewed the Covid-19 outbreak and the deliberations at the PM’s meet. It also discussed the modalities of extending the lockdown till April 30.

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An IndiGo airlines aircraft engineer who was admitted to GH with breathlessness died on Friday. He was working at the Chennai airport. The airline in a statement said the 57-year-old employee died ‘due to infection of Covid-19 virus’, but the state government denied it. Director of public health Dr K Kolandaisamy said the patient tested negative for Covid-19. RGGHS dean Dr R Jayanthi said, “He was 57-years-old and had breathlessness. He tested negative for Covid-19. His family members too tested negative.” P3

EPS bats for smooth supply of essential goods via trains, lorries

The cabinet’s decision comes in the wake of the Centre’s decentralized lockdown strategy that was revealed at the video conference dividing areas into green, orange and red zones. Detailed guidelines will be rolled out in a day or two. The Tamil Nadu government will tweak the strategy to suit the state’s needs, official sources told TOI.

As there is a surge in positive cases, the CM requested the Centre to supply large quantities of PCR and rapid test kits to the state and testing labs in each district. He recalled his request to the Union health minister to provide two lakh rapid test kits to test the contacts immediately. He sought an ad hoc grant of ₹1,000 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund immediately to procure medical and protective material.

In the video conference that lasted four hours, the CM said the Centre should facilitate smooth supply of essential commodities such as dal and spices from other states through railways and inter-state movement of the goods through lorries. “At this hour of prolonged lockdown, we should not allow a food crisis in the country. We should give total support to agriculture and I request you to announce a special package for agriculture and horticulture promotion,” the CM told the PM.

The chief secretary also said the United States had got the rapid test kits Tamil Nadu had ordered. TOI reported on Saturday that four lakh kits ordered by the TN government and five lakh kits ordered by the Centre were diverted to another country by the manufacturer in China. “Since the order was made earlier, an assurance has been given to supply 50,000 kits in the next consignment to India, and 50,000 kits subsequently,” he said.

If the lockdown is extended, the chief minister requested additional funding as well as allotment of essential commodities to support the unorganised sector workers, agricultural labourers. “They may be provided ₹2,000 per family,” he said. The chief minister said the existing lockdown was being implemented strictly in the state. “Train and flight services should not be resumed. I appeal to PM and other chief ministers not to allow inter-state passengers movement,” he said.