Cannot keep extending lockdown, we must put a full stop to Covid-19: M K Stalin

On a video message posted on his Twitter page, Stalin said there has been a decline in cases in Chennai and other major cities of the state since the lockdown was imposed on May 24.

Stalin said no one need to be alarmed at the use of words "union government" for referring to the Centre. ( File photo)

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday said the state cannot keep extending the lockdown and it needs the support of the people to put a full stop to it.

On a video message posted on his Twitter page, Stalin said there has been a decline in cases in Chennai and other major cities of the state since the lockdown was imposed on May 24. Chennai, for instance, had been reporting 7,000 infections per day but now it has come down to 2,000 cases daily, he added. Similarly, in western districts including Coimbatore, the number of cases has come down in the last two days, he said.

கொரோனாவை வெல்வோம்!

நமக்கான வளம் மிகுந்த தமிழ்நாட்டை அமைப்போம்! https://t.co/ux2rbeaOqS

— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) June 1, 2021

“We cannot keep extending the lockdown. We need to put a full stop to it and this is only in people’s hands. If we follow the restrictions, we can keep a full stop to Covid-19. The Tamil Nadu government has been making efforts to improve the medical infrastructure, and there is no shortage of hospital beds and oxygen now. In fact, there are beds lying vacant in several hospitals. In one day, we are inoculating three lakh people. No other state is conducting vaccination on this scale. Similarly, over 1.7 lakh samples are being tested per day,” the CM said.

Stating that he has dedicated himself to this battle to save people from the virus, he added, “Donning the PPE kit, I visited the Covid ward at the ESI hospital in Coimbatore and asked patients about their health. Many advised me not to step into the Covid ward as they were concerned about my health but I wanted to go there to provide confidence to the thousands of healthcare workers and their family who are risking their lives to save people,” he added.

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The Chief Minister said it is true that due to the lockdown, many people have lost their livelihood and the government is taking all measures to make the situation better by extending initiatives like Covid relief to the public.

With the first installment of Rs 2,000 already having been distributed, Stalin said the second installment of Rs 2,000 will reach the public soon. He added that the government has made additional efforts like setting up mobile carts to deliver fruits and vegetables to the public at their doorstep and allowing ration shops to open.

“People should duly follow the lockdown restrictions imposed by the government. Even if few people violate the restrictions, we might not get the full benefit of all these measures. It is only because of the failure to put a full stop to the first wave that we were made to face the second wave,” he said.

Janardhan Koushik

Janardhan Koushik is Deputy Copy Editor of indianexpress.com. He is a New Media journalist with over five years of reporting experience in the industry. He has a keen interest in politics, sports, films, and other civic issues. Janardhan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Communication from SRM Arts and Science College and a PG Diploma in New Media from Asian College of Journalism, one of the top ranked journalism schools in India. He started his career with India Today group as a sub-editor as part of the sports team in 2016. He has also a wide experience as a script-writer having worked for short-films, pilot films as well as a radio jockey cum show producer while contributing for an online Tamil FM. As a multilingual journalist, he actively tracks the latest development in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry utiling his well-established networks to contribute significantly to breaking news stories. He has also worked as a sports analyst for Star Sports. ... Read More

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