Chennai: The government machinery should be prepared to face any kind of situation, Chief Minister M K Stalin has advised Collectors and top State officials, amid concerns over emergence of a fourth Covid-19 wave.
People wearing masks in public places must be ensured, vaccination coverage, including administering booster dose, should be stepped up, Stalin told the district Collectors on Monday in a virtual meeting.
Pointing to a rise in virus cases during the past one week in Maharashtra, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, he said and added that according to experts, a new sub-variant of Omicron strain was behind the spike.
Pointing out that the State is lagging behind some others in terms of people vaccinated against Covid-19, Stalin said there was a challenge to be faced.
Stalin said there are 1.48 crore people who have not taken the second Covid-19 dose and 11.68 lakh people who have not taken the booster dose.
It is a challenge to ensure that such people are duly vaccinated in the coming weeks, he said and underscored the importance of preventing deaths due to the virus while making sure that economic growth was not hindered and people’s livelihood avenues are not affected. ‘You should ensure people wear masks in public places and in locations where people congregate in large numbers.’
Special focus would be given to high-risk areas such as urban slums; peri-urban (periphery of urban localities) areas; remote and inaccessible population settlements; certain communities; groups not interested in vaccination; tribal and hilly areas; and fishermen colonies, reports said.