Coronavirus: Fortify Chennai borders, Tamil Nadu chief secretary tells officials – Times of India

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu chief secretary K Shanmugam on Tuesday directed the administrators of Chennai and neighbouring districts to fortify the Greater Chennai Police limits with multi-layer checking during a 12-day intense lockdown between June 19 and June 30.
He suggested geofencing of home isolated patients and quarantined contacts to ensure isolation norms are followed. Strict action should be taken against the violators.
The top bureaucrat shot off a five-page letter, issuing a slew of directions, to the nodal officer for the field support teams, health secretary and special nodal officer (overall coordination) J Radhakrishnan, special coordinator Pankaj Kumar Bansal, district collectors of Kancheepuram, Chengalpet and Tiruvallur, and the nodal officers of the districts, commissioner of Greater Chennai Corporation, besides director general of police J K Tripathy and Chennai police commissioner A K Viswanathan.
“The main objective of this lockdown is to restrict the movement of people within the area and to outside to reduce the disease spread,” Shanmugam said.
It is very critical to ensure strict enforcement of the restriction of movements both internal and also movement to outside the area, while at the same time the administration shall focus on the other issues like strengthening the surveillance and survey of the containment areas/quarantined houses and organising fever camps in areas outside containment area for the early detection and testing of Covid-19 suspected persons, the officer said.
The focus should also be on streamlined testing, patient management, effective contact tracing, quarantine and containment area management and ensuring the smooth supply of essentials in the quarantine houses and in the containment area to make the lockdown a success.
“Ensure 100% identification of all home contacts and other contacts and quarantine them within 24 hours. Use Aarogya Setu or tele-consultation of police for tracking to ensure contact tracing is complete without omission,” the chief secretary said.
The teams should keep a close watch on the health of aged, comorbid cases. The waiting time in screening centres should be reduced and hassle-free allotment of hospital/health or care centre and private hospital ensured. There should be better coordination for allotment of beds in private hospitals.
The teams are directed to control the internal movement by putting up barricades in critical locations and use public address systems widely in important places and mobile units through auto rickshaws. They should maintain strict perimeter control of the containment area, quarantined houses and houses of isolated patients in home treatment through security post, CCTV and community vigilance.
They should coordinate smooth supply of essential commodities. The public should be made aware that use of masks is compulsory, and any violation is punishable with a fine.