Rising Covid cases, deaths, acute shortage of medicines, zero adherence to lockdown: Tamil Nadu has become a living hell under Stalin

Ever since DMK patriarch MK Stalin took the reins of Tamil Nadu, the state has spiralled into an uncontrolled wave of the pandemic. For the third straight day on Thursday, Tamil Nadu topped the list of most COVID cases in the country. On Thursday, the state reported 35,579 cases, up from the 34,875 positive cases on Wednesday while a total of 33,059 people had tested positive on Tuesday.

The rising numbers have put a dent in India’s effort to curb the menace of the virus. While states around the country that have gone into strict lockdowns have shown encouraging results, Tamil Nadu has failed to inspire such confidence.

According to an Indian Express report, at least 16 districts are showing a positivity rate of over 20 per cent, Tamil Greater Chennai City Corporation topped the list by reporting a 31.5 per cent test positivity rate. Theni (30.3 per cent), Coimbatore (29.3 per cent), Kanyakumari (27.1 per cent), Thoothukudi (26.7 per cent) were other districts with high positivity rates. Owing to the high and worrisome positivity rates, the Tamil Nadu administration is considering extending the lockdown by another week to May 24.

While a supposed backward state like Uttar Pradesh had embarked upon a mass house-to-house active case finding campaign covering over 97,000 villages by deploying 141,610 teams and 21,242 supervisors from the state health department, the Tamil Nadu administration is now mulling over a district-level containment plan on the same line. Such strategy should have been implemented from the beginning but MK Stalin and his party were more concerned with basking in the glory of the electoral victory.

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PMK Founder S.Ramadoss on Thursday said the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu, raises doubts on whether the intense lockdown was implemented properly on the ground.

In a statement, he pointed out that the number of cases increasing by 1,816 on Wednesday, comes as a shock. “This is the first time in the last 10 days that the increase in cases has been so steep. It shows that the measures are not implemented strictly,” Dr Ramadoss said.

Across Tamil Nadu, the burgeoning second wave has tested the healthcare infrastructure to the hilt. Positive patients, who have reached a critical stage, are finding it challenging to find beds and ambulances.

While under AIADMK’s rule, Tamil Nadu was exporting its surplus oxygen to neighbouring states and acting as a saviour — the state and its private hospitals are routinely facing acute oxygen shortage under the new regime. No clear mechanism has been put in place and the public is paying the price for it.