Nine more test positive for COVID-19 in TN, total rises to 38

: Nine more people tested positive for coronavirus in Tamil Nadu on Friday, taking the total number of cases to 38 in Tamil Nadu as Chief Minister K Palaniswami briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the action being taken to tackle the contagion.

While six cases were reported earlier in the day, three were reported on Friday night, as the state recorded the highest number of cases in a single day.

Hours after the Prime Minister spoke to him, favouring strict enforcement of lockdown, Palaniswami ordered fresh curbs to ensure people stay indoors and stepped up measures to tackle the scourge by appointing 500 plus doctors, besides other healthcare professionals in State-run hospitals.

As per his directive, effective Sunday, grocery shops, vegetable markets and petrol pumps will remain only from 6 am to 2.30 pm.

Trucks ferrying vegetables and fruits from within and outside Tamil Nadu should offload them between 6 PM and 6 AM am in the respective wholesale markets.

The prohibitory orders, though do not apply to incidents like death and it should be ensured that the number of participants does not exceed 20 people, the government said.

Food delivery aggregators will be allowed deliver food between 7 am to 9.30 am, between noon and 2.30 pm and from 6 pm to 9 pm as a special case.

Pharmacies and restaurants will be open through the day. Eateries could however only cater to take away orders and not allow dine-in amenities, the government said.

The CM also said 500-plus doctors have been freshly appointed and ordered recruiting 200 doctors and an equal number of nurses, 100 paramedics and 180 sanitary workers at Omandurar Estate Government Medical College Hospital here,now a designated 500 bed facility to treat COVID-19 patients.

The State police said 3,024 FIRs have been filed and 1,924 vehicles seized for lockdown violations across Tamil Nadu, while the state government invited donations to the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund to meet the expenditure for activities aimed at tackling COVID-19.

To cater to the expected high number of infections, substantial funding resources are needed for a variety of requirements including diagnostic equipment, ventilators, beds, isolation and quarantine facilities, the government said, adding it was seeking support to tackle the situation.

"Workers in agriculture, construction and several other unorganised sectors are facing daily wage losses. Help is (also) needed for providing food for poor and the destitute."
Modi sought to know from the Chief Minister about the coronavirus preventive measures undertaken by government departments in the state and was apprised about the steps being taken, an official release said