Tamil Nadu Government’s decision to relax lockdown regulations from Monday morning suffered a setback as the State registered 669 new cases of coronavirus positive patients on Sunday. The addition of the 669 new entrants to the pandemic table took the number of persons tested positive in the State to 7,204. The last nine days saw the number of covid-19 patients in the State going up from 2526 (May 1) to 7,204, an increase of 4,678.
A medial bulletin issued by the Tamil Nadu Government on Sunday said the the number of fatalities rose to 47 as three more persons succumbed to the pandemic. Chennai with 509 coronavirus cases led the tally on Sunday and the number of patients in the metropolis went up to 3,839, the highest in the State.
But what is of concern to community health specialists in Chennai and the remaining parts of the State is the move by the Government to relax the lockdown restrictions and allow the opening of business and commercial establishments all over barring the containment regions.
The Koyambedu Fruits and Vegetable Market, spread across an area of 65 acres has been shut down and all the shops were shifted to Thirumazhisai outside the Greater Chennai Municipal Corporation. Only wholesale traders would be allowed to operate from the new premises, according to the Government release.
Dr K Kolandaswamy, former director of public health and preventive medicine, Government of Tamil nadu who is working as an advisor to the State Governmet, told The Pioneer that there was no need to panic over the increasing numbers. “This is bound to happen and we are seeing is the impact of our carelessness towards hygiene and sanitation in the past. You can see that villages where people observed cleanliness and sanitation are absolutely free of this pandemic. The increase in the number of coronavirus cases will continue for some more time but what we need is courage and the flexibility to observe the restrictions,” said Dr Kolandaswamy.
The Tamil Nadu Government as part of its efforts to fight the pandemic and revive the ailing economy has set up a 24-member committee of experts headed by former Reserve Bank of India Governor C Rangarajan to assess the immediate and medium term impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the State’s economy. The 88-year-old economist and his colleagues in the committee has been asked by chief minister Edappadi Palaniswamy to suggest means to improve the tax-GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) ratio, diversifying revenue sources and re-prioritizing expenditure. Tamil Nadu Government is strategizing ways and means to woo the US and European companies who are quitting China to set up manufacturing plants in the State.