Only people can break the chain of virus to end lockdown: Stalin

Says unless the state recovers from Covid, govt’s plans for other dept’s cannot be looked into

Entrusting the responsibility of putting a full stop to the spread of Coronavirus with the people, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said only they could break the chain of the infection that spread from individual to individual as the lockdown could not be imposed always.

Urging the people to adhere to the restrictions and the norms imposed by the government, Stalin, in a video message to the public on Tuesday, said since Coronavirus spreads from person to person, everyone should play safe and also ensure that they did not spread it to others.

He pointed to the drastic reduction in the number of infections after a total lockdown was imposed on May 24 and said that though the government extended the lockdown by another week and the numbers came down further, it cannot be extended forever.

There was an urgent need to come out of the present day tragedies and step into a bright future with renewed hopes, he said, adding that the failure to put a full stop to the pandemic in its first wave had led to the second surge, which was throwing up a challenge to medical infrastructure and the state’s finances.

Referring to his visit to the Covid ward at the ESI

Hospital in Coimbatore to extend moral support to the patients, the families and the frontline workers of the medical community, he said there were several people who had affectionately warned him not to repeat such an act.

The same alarm raised by the well-wishers should be a common caution guiding the general behaviour of the people since a violation of the precautions even by one person can jeopardise the collective efforts to put an end to the spread of virus.

Unless the state recovered from the present ravages of the pandemic, the government’s plans for the other departments cannot be looked into and executed, he said.

As of now, the threeweek-old government had developed adequate infrastructure to face the threat of Coronavirus, leading to a situation in which there was no shortage of beds or oxygen, Stalin said.

In fact, beds were empty in hospitals, he said. Besides, three lakh persons were being vaccinated every day and 1.70 lakh RT-PCR tests were being taken daily — both the figures are the highest among all states in the country — he said.

He also elaborated on the relief provided by the government to bring succour to the affected persons mentioning the payment of `2,000 to each of the families, a move that had won accolades from Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee.

Other special measures taken by the government to offset the ill-effects of the lockdown include the arranging for supply of groceries and vegetables at the doorsteps and opening ration shops and also issues a list of 13 provisions to cardholders, he said.

Meanwhile, examinations for the State Board Plus Two examinations may also be cancelled in the wake of the Centre doing away with the final examinations for CBSE students, citing the safety of students in the context of the Covid-19 crisis.

State school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyamozhi said that he would discuss the matter with the Chief Minister and officials of the education department on Wednesday before arriving at a decision.

On Tuesday Poyamozhi had a rethink on his earlier decision to hold the examinations for the State Board students in the schools and said he was waiting for the CBSE’s decision. The Minister had a review meeting with the Chief Minister at the Secretariat earlier in the day.

Now that the Centre has made it clear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not in favour of holding the examinations for the CBSE board, the state government might also take a similar line and cancel the examinations.