The Greater Chennai Corporation has stopped the practice of erecting barricades at homes of COVID-19 patients, said Corporation Commissioner G. Prakash.
Mr. Prakash told presspersons on Tuesday that the patients were cooperating with civic officials and there was no longer any need for barricading homes. “We will balance the need for promoting economic activity and COVID-19 management. Another three months are crucial,” he said.
New quarantine rules
Pointing to the regulations pertaining to the arrival of people from other States and countries, Mr. Prakash said the civic body had stopped institutional quarantine of such passengers and permitted their home quarantine for 14 days. “Passengers who have symptoms will be tested for COVID-19. We will not test all passengers. Those who reach the city from other districts of Tamil Nadu do not need to be on home quarantine,” said Mr. Prakash.
The COVID-19 management system would continue for another three months. “We have tested 11 lakh persons for COVID-19. The number of persons tested was five lakh 35 days ago. This is a period of stability. But this un-lockdown phase is expected to be challenging. We need better management when public transport is permitted. We will focus on mask wearing and physical distancing. Any shop with violations will be locked and sealed for 14 days. This is a severe punishment during this kind of economic condition,” said Mr. Prakash.
Those who spit on the road will have to pay a fine of ₹500.
Stressing on the need for safeguarding the livelihood of street vendors, Mr. Prakash said thousands of vendors on Marina beach were expected to get a source of livelihood after the government takes a decision in two days. “We will wait for the decision. A good decision is likely,” said Mr. Prakash.
All the volunteers who are working during the pandemic would get a certificate of appreciation from the Corporation.
“We have dismissed a few workers for failing to work during the pandemic. We have withheld salary of those workers who were not working properly. We did not want to waste taxpayers’ money by paying workers who failed to do their duty during the pandemic,” said Mr. Prakash.
The Corporation will release the comprehensive data online on money spent for COVID-19 containment in a few days, said Mr. Prakash.