Tamil Nadu’s COVID-19 case count is likely to decline in the next 10 days and the spread of the virus is reducing noticeably in Chennai, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said on Wednesday.

Addressing the media, Mr. Palaniswami said the daily case tally was expected to come down. However, the containment of the virus was “in each person’s hands”, and what was needed was “self-regulation and people’s support”, he added.

Mr. Palaniswami was in Krishnagiri to review containment measures and lay the foundation for an international flower auction market.

Responding to queries regarding the Opposition’s criticism of the government and DMK leader M.K. Stalin’s demand that each family be paid ₹5,000 as COVID-19 relief, Mr. Palaniswami sought to know what kind of compensation did the erstwhile DMK regime provide during cyclones and floods. “The Opposition, instead of lending support to the government, is busy issuing statements of criticism,” he said.

Dismissing reports that cooperative societies had been asked to increase loan disbursements, Mr. Palaniswami said they were facing demands in respect of deposits, and adequate liquidity had to be maintained by the societies in order to be able to return the deposits when a demand is made.

“The depositors with cooperative societies are largely farmers and in these hard times, such societies need liquid cash to return deposits. Loans will be disbursed in proportion to the liquidity of the society concerned,” he said.

Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister laid the foundation for an international flower auction centre, which will come up at Moranapalli village in Hosur at a cost of ₹20.20 crore. The centre, to be spread over 7.68 acres, envisages 3,702 ha under flower cultivation, with a production capacity of 39,383 tonnes. The export turnover is estimated to be ₹150 crore-₹200 crore.