Stalin seeks people’s cooperation to end lockdown in Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin on Tuesday sought the full cooperation of the people in the state to put an end to the lockdown.
In a video message, Stalin said people would have understood that lockdowns helped bring down Covid-19 cases. “But it (lockdown) cannot be prolonged. It is in the hands of the people to put an end to it,” he said.

Stalin said the state was facing the second wave due to the failure to put an end to the first wave of the pandemic. It created a crisis for the state's medical infrastructure and finance, he said. “We should come out of it soon. People of the state should take responsibility to break the chain of transmission of the virus and return to development and progress,” he said.
The chief minister said the state had overcome the shortage of oxygen beds and medical liquid oxygen in a short span of time.
“Within a span of three weeks, the Tamil Nadu government ramped up the medical infrastructure and overcame the shortage of beds and oxygen,” he said.
On the vaccination drive, the CM said, “We have administered three lakh vaccines and done 1.7 lakh RT-PCR tests daily. No other state has achieved this feat.”
“I have dedicated myself to protect the lives of the people of the state,” said the CM and recounted his visit to a Covid-19 ward in Coimbatore donning a PPE kit.
Apart from medical care and medicines, the confidence of others would help a patient recover soon. Hence the Tamil Nadu government’s actions were aimed at infusing confidence, he said.
“I visited the Covid ward to build confidence among doctors, paramedical staff, other frontline workers and their family members. Many got tensed and cautioned me against visiting the Covid ward,” he said and noted that he expected the same caution from everyone and wanted all to strictly follow the lockdown guidelines.
“If a few violate it, it will not give the full benefit,” he said.