The Madras High Court on Monday suggested that the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry governments may consider imposing lockdown on May 1 and 2 for free movement of vehicles involved in counting of votes on May 2 or an emergency. The current lockdown restrictions are up to April 30.
The First Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy made the observation while hearing a suo motu plea initiative by the Court on the state’s preparedness and the availability of oxygen, ventilators, Remdesivir and beds required to handle the second wave of Covid-19.
The governments should make the lockdown announcement well in advance to avoid inconvenience to ordinary citizens, the court observed.
Although 75 per cent of Covid-19 patients do not require hospitalisation, panic-stricken relatives go in search of hospital beds, oxygen and Remdesivir. It recorded submissions made by Tamil Nadu that it will widely publicise the dos and don'ts in the media, the court said.
Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said the state government is increasing beds with oxygen cylinders and around 2,400 more beds are planned in Chennai alone.