Expert panel of health professionals favours staggered exit from lockdown

Health experts appointed by Tamil Nadu government have advised a staggered exit from the ongoing coronavirus induced lockdown. The expert committee had a two-hour long discussion with Chief Minister K Palaniswami and other top officials and WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan participated in the consultations through video conferencing.

Chennai:An expert committee of health professionals appointed by the Tamil Nadu government on COVID-19 on Thursday once again favoured a staggered exit from the lockdown, which is now scheduled to enter its fourth phase.

The ongoing third phase of the coronavirus-induced lockdown is scheduled to end on May 17 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced that there will be a fourth phase which will be completely different from the present one.

The expert committee had a two-hour long discussion with Chief Minister K Palaniswami and other top officials and WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan participated in the consultations through video conferencing.

Dr Prabhdeep Kaur, a key member of the panel, told reporters the committee has favoured a gradual exit from the lockdown, once it is lifted.

"The lockdown is going to enter the next phase. We can release 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 state government that whenever the lockdown ends, it should be a graded one in Tamil Nadu, which has over 9,000 positive cases of COVID-19.

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She lauded Tamil Nadu for the high number of testing and said it should continue.

"We are in (the midst of a) pandemic--there won't be a situation without cases..there will be waves, sometimes the cases will increase, sometimes they will decrease. We have to control the cluster waves by using the right strategy and should not panic but focus on control measure," Kaur added.

More community participation, strict adherence of health protocols like social distancing, including in workplaces and wearing mask is key to handling the contagion, she said.

She said the state had managed to keep the fatalities low due to quicker intervention, and termed it an achievement.

Stepping up testing has allowed the government to map the affected areas to accordingly devise its strategy.

"So the committee's recommendation is don't decrease the test (samples) as it would alone give a picture on the spread," she said.

PTI