The Indian Medical Association has advised the extension of the lockdown by another three weeks, and the expert panel formed by the Tamil Nadu State government has advised the extension of lockdown by another 14 days. But the final choice will be taken by Edappadi K Palaniswami Chief Minister of the state on Saturday after discussing the issue with his cabinet colleagues and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
K Shanamugam, the Chief Secretary, while addressing the media on Friday, said that the Chief Minister is considering the views of all the experts on the matter. CM Palaniswami held a meeting with the state expert panel on Friday, who suggested extending the lockdown till the cases, is not brought back under control.
Prabhdeep Kaur, Deputy Director of National Institute of Epideomology, ICMR, who is also part of the panel, stated that a two-hour meeting was held in which around 17 members participated along with Sowmya Swamanithan Chief Scientist with WHO through video conference from Geneva. The panel suggestion was to extend the lockdown as the number of cases was increasing.
He also added that more testing needs to be conducted in the next 14 days as suggested by the committee. They also suggested making an informed decision based on the data that has been collected over the period. The safety of the doctor, nurses, and healthcare workers were also discussed by the committee.
The state is failing a shortfall of Rs. 10,000 crore due to the ongoing lockdown and is planning on borrowing the sum from the financial institutes. Sources have informed that the coffers of the state are in bad shape due to the downfall in the collection of taxes. The monthly commercial tax collection amounted to Rs. 7000 crore and other taxes brought about Rs. 2000 crore have all dried up due to the lockdown.
The installation of disinfectant tunnels has been suspended by the government, as the experts in a meeting chaired by the CM suggested that there is no scientific proof on their effectiveness. Also, spraying alcohol or chlorine all over the body is not going to kill the virus which has entered the body.