Tamil Nadu Government is leaving no stones un-turned to fortify the State from the COVID-19 virus, responsible for the spread of corona virus.
The Government issued a special notification late Sunday authorising the district collectors and superintendents of police in the districts sharing borders with the neighboring States to check, regulate and control the intra-State and inter-State travel by people.
The office order named COVID-19 Preventive Strategies has empowered State officials to forcibly hospitalise or isolate any person suspected to have come in contact with infected persons or places. The district collectors are empowered to seal a geographical area itself , if cases of COVID-19 are reported from the area.
Dr C Vijayabaskar, Tamil Nadu Minister of Health, asked people on Monday to restrict their movements to other States like Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. “We will have health officials including doctors and para-medical staff monitoring the border check points, railway stations, air ports and other entry spots to the State,” said Dr Vijayabaskar while addressing a specially convened Press briefing at Chennai on Monday. The minister said everything was under control and there was no need to panic.
The COVID-19 Preventive Strategies empower State Government officials to forcibly hospitalize or isolate those who had travelled to any country or area, where COVID-19 has been reported in the last 28 days and those who had a history of coming in contact with anyone suspected or confirmed to be carrying COVID - 19. The order empowers the officials to hospitalize such persons for a period of 14 days or till the lab test results.
Colleges and Private Universities in Tamil Nadu have started rescheduling their summer holidays in view of the Corona Virus threat, SRM Institute of technology and Velore Institute of technology were the first institutions to declare holidays ahead of the summer vacation.
Meanwhile, a section of the Islamic organizations which were on an agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act brought in by the Centre declared on Monday that they were calling off all the rallies, sit-ins and demonstrations demanding the withdrawal of the Act. But Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamaath , declared that it would go ahead with its agitations as scheduled.
P. Abdul Rahman, vice president, Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamaath, told that his organization was in the forefront of the agitation against CAA and continued to be so irrespective of the Corona virus threat. “From March 18, we will launch a Jail Bharo agitation demanding the passing of a resolution against NPR in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. “Lakhs of Muslims would join us in the agitation from 36 places in the State . Our agitation would continue till the Government of India withdraws the CAA,” Rahman told The Pioneer.
But earlier in the day, Revenue Minister RB Udhayakumar said in the Assembly that there was no going back in the State Government’s decision not to adopt any resolution against the CAA in the House.
“The Chief Minister has made it clear that the concerns of Muslim community members would be taken into account and the Government would be in the forefront to fight against any injustice against them,” said the minister.