Chennai: 911. No, we are not talking about the American emergency hotline, but the number of people currently affected by coronavirus in Tamilnadu.
With the cases increasing each passing day, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, who attended a video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi this morning, will take some key decisions on extension of lockdown at the Cabinet meet later this evening.
“The CM will brief Ministers including Deputy CM O Panneerselvam on the outcomes of the meeting with the PM and will take some key decisions,” sources said.
Already, Palaniswami had meetings with WHO and medical experts on the current situation. Palaniswami on Friday chaired a meeting via video conferencing from the Secretariat with medical teams deployed to control the spread of coronavirus.
A 19 member expert committee constituted by the Tamilnadu government to advise it of steps to tackle the Covid-19 crisis on Friday recommended to Palaniswami that the lockdown be extended by two weeks beyond April 14 consdering the rise in number of cases. Meanwhile, door to door screening has intensified in Tamilnadu and officials are visiting houses in containment zones and other parts.
The State police have recorded as many 1,40,176 violations across Tamilnadu. According to police, nearly 1,51,151 people have been arrested for defying section 144. The police have seized 1,19,286 vehicles as remedial action.
As on 11 April, police have collected Rs 53,72,044 as fines due to violations during the lockdown period to prevent the spread of Covid-19.