'Initiate war-room like protocol to battle COVID-19 crisis': MK Stalin instructs officials

Amidst the surge in COVID-19 cases in Chennai as well as Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin issued a statement instructing a war-room to be set up in Tamil Nadu to tackle the COVID crisis in the state. It is to be noted that Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Wednesday appointed DMK president M.K. Stalin as the Chief Minister and invited him to form the government in the State on May 7.

Tamil Nadu recorded 23,310 COVID-19 cases as per the latest health bulletin on Wednesday. Instructing the department of health to take measures to tackle the rise of COVID cases, MK Stalin in a statement said Tamil Nadu is facing a medical emergency and that the state must be prepared to handle this COVID crisis much like during the war-time. 

The statement issued by the DMK Chief, and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister-elect comes just after days of discussions held between MK Stalin and health Secretary, Chief Secretary, and other experts over the last few days at MK Stalin's residence. 

Following the announcement that Journalists and people working in Media will also be treated as frontline workers, MK Stalin in the statement released today stated that the chief secretary must take stock of the crisis. "A war-room-like unit must be set up which will act as a central unit to monitor medical oxygen supply, adequate supply of beds, drugs like remdesivir and so on. This is a difficult period, but not something we cannot overcome," he said. 

Emphasising the cost of treatment at the government and private hospitals, MK Stalin instructed private hospitals to dedicate themselves towards saving lives. He asked the private hospitals, which are now part of COVID-19 treatment centers to allot more beds apart from the existing 50% allotment of beds to COVID patients. He also requested them to offer a maximum concession to those seeking treatment. 

The Tamil Nadu Government has released data on the bed's availability and oxygen availability, the DMK Chief also requested the private hospitals to follow and upload accurate data on the availability of beds and oxygen on the government website regularly. 

MK Stalin over the last three days has been having continuous discussions with the top officials in the state monitoring the COVID situation. The state will be on a stringent lockdown starting 4:00 am tomorrow morning (May 6) until the next 14 days, until May 20.

(Image Credits: PTI/GERALT/PIXABAY)