Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Sunday appealed to people to continue following Covid norms in spite of a dip in the number of cases and easing of restrictions that come into effect from July 5. In a four-minute video released today, Stalin said if people adhere to COVID-19 protocols the virus can be kept at bay.

The spread of the pandemic has been brought under control, he said while thanking the people for supporting the total lockdown announced by the government when the virus was at its peak.

Thanking doctors, nurses, and frontline workers, the Chief Minister said the virus cases at one stage had touched over 36,000 in a single day and now it has gone below 4,000 levels. "Though we can say we have reduced the impact of the virus, we cannot say it does not remain. People should not think they need not follow COVID-19 protocols any longer just because relaxations were announced," he said.

Noting that educational institutions, cinema halls, parks were not opened yet, he said these are the places where people gather in large numbers. Therefore, the public should understand as to why the government had not opened them.

"The total lockdown (that was imposed earlier) affected the livelihood of the people and they faced difficulty to buy essential items," he said.

Stressing on vaccination, Stalin said it is a major tool to protect themselves from the virus. "We are vaccinating people based on the doses sent by the Centre," he said. "My request is to adopt self-discipline. People should go out only if necessary, and while stepping out they should follow the COVID-19 precautions like wearing masks, maintaining social distance, and avoiding large gatherings," he said.

Referring to the views of medical experts that if there were violations of COVID-19 protocols there will be a possibility of the third wave of the virus, he said, "If we strictly follow the protocols we can prevent it." "I once again request people not to violate the COVID-19 protocols since relaxations have been announced. People should not be negligent," he said.

The Tamil Nadu government on Friday last announced an easing of more curbs from July 5 and declared uniform relaxations in the restrictions across the State. As of Saturday, the State recorded a further decline in new COVID-19 cases. There were 4,013 cases and those took the total number infected to 24,92,420 while 115 deaths took the toll to 32,933, the Health Department has said.