Chennai, May 14 () An expert committee of healthprofessionals appointed by the Tamil Nadu government onCOVID-19 on Thursday once again favoured a staggered exit fromthe lockdown, which is now scheduled to enter its fourt phase.
The ongoing third phase of the coronavirus-inducedlockdown is scheduled to end on May 17 and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Tuesday announced that there will be a fourthphase which will be completely different from the present one.
The expert committee had a two-hour long discussionwith Chief Minister K Palaniswami and other top officials andWHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan participated in theconsultations through video conferencing.
Dr Prabhdeep Kaur, a key member of the panel, toldreporters the committee has favoured a gradual exit from thelockdown, once it is lifted.
"The lockdown is going to enter the next phase. We canrelease it only gradually, not all over (at the same time)..if done so, there is a chance of increase in the spread of"coronavirus," she said.
She said the panel members recommended to the stategovernment that whenever the lockdown ends, it should be agraded one in Tamil Nadu, which has over 9,000 positive casesof COVID-19.
She lauded Tamil Nadu for the high number of testingand said it should continue.
"We are in (the midst of a) pandemic--there won't be asituation without cases..there will be waves, sometimes thecases will increase, sometimes they will decrease. We have tocontrol the cluster waves by using the right strategy andshould not panic but focus on control measure," Kaur added.
More community participation, strict adherence ofhealth protocols like social distancing, including inworkplaces and wearing mask is key to handling the contagion,she said.
She said the state had managed to keep the fatalitieslow due to quicker intervention, and termed it anachievement.
Stepping up testing has allowed the government to mapthe affected areas to accordingly devise its strategy.
"So the commiittee's recommendation is don't decreasethe test (samples) as it would alone give a picture on thespread," she said. SA SS
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