Chennai: At a time when the State’s Covid-19 numbers are on a constant rise, it seems the Tamilnadu government is not in a mood to lift the lockdown. Instead, it would announce more relaxations and would extend lockdown till the end of this month, sources said.
On Thursday, a team of health experts recommended to Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami a phased easing of the lockdown. The experts strongly recommended ramping up testing to better map the virus spread.
It once again favoured a staggered exit from the lockdown, which is now scheduled to enter its fourth phase.
The ongoing third phase of the coronavirus-induced lockdown is scheduled to end on 17 May and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced that there will be a fourth phase which will be completely different from the present one.
The expert committee had a two-hour long discussion with Chief Minister K Palaniswami and other top officials and WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan participated in the consultations through video conferencing.
Dr Prabhdeep Kaur, a key member of the panel, told reporters the committee has favoured a gradual exit from the lockdown, once it is lifted.
“The lockdown is going to enter the next phase. We can release it only gradually, not all over (at the same time).. if done so, there is a chance of increase in the spread of” coronavirus,” she said.
She said the panel members recommended to the state government that whenever the lockdown ends, it should be a graded one in Tamilnadu, which has over 9,000 positive cases of Covid-19.