Tamil Nadu extends Coronavirus lockdown till April 30 in the state

• Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami today (April 13) announced that that state-wide lockdown would continue till April 30.
• The CM office tweeted that ₹1,000 for the second time as relief assistance to all registered non-resident workers, including construction workers.
• The government also said the migrant workers from other states would be given 15kg of rice, 1kg of pulses and 1kg of cooking oil for free in May.
  

Tamil Nadu is the third state after Maharashtra and Delhi to cross 1,000 mark in the number of infected cases and Chief Minister (CM) Edappadi K Palaniswami announced today (April 13) that that state-wide lockdown would continue till April 30.

In the last 24 hours, 106 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported taking the overall tally to the 1,043. So far 50 people have been cured, and 11 succumbed to the deadly virus.

The CM’s office tweeted that ₹1,000 for the second time as relief assistance to all registered non-resident workers, including construction workers. It also said that all the essentials like Sugar, Beef, Edible Oil, Rice for the month of May would be provided to the Ration Card holders at a reasonable price.

The government also said the migrant workers from other states would be given 15kg of rice, 1kg of pulses and 1kg of cooking oil for free in May.


TN prepares for "aggressive testing"

With a focus on "aggressive testing", the government has decided to coordinate with the private sector in this effort and would bear the expenses involved, she said.

Of the 106 new cases, 16 had "inter-state travel" history and the remaining were their contacts, she said, even as the cumulative number of positive cases climbed to 1,043.

Among the new cases were eight doctors-- two each from the Railways and the state government, while the rest were working in the private sector, she added.

Further, the government has stepped up testing and has received approvals from the Centre to set up 23 facilities in the state.

"We have got approvals from Government of India to set up 14 government labs and nine private labs", she said, adding JIPMER in Puducherry has been nominated as 'Mentor Lab' by the Centre.

The government has now turned its focus on "aggressive testing" and has decided to rope in the private sector also.

Rajesh said the private sector has fixed a price for testing the samples and that Chief Minister K Palaniswami has announced the government will bear all the expenses.

"Our strategy is aggressive testing now," she said.


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