Lockdown inevitable, if people flout COVID norms: Pondy L-G

Addressing reporters on the sidelines of a government function near here, the Lt Governor said, ‘lockdown can be imposed in the current context of surge in COVID-19 cases in Puducherry. It can be done in a minute. 

“But, we should also take into consideration the implications of total lockdown particularly in its impact on livelihood of the poor. All aspects need to be considered before resorting to total lockdown,” she said. 

Soundararajan urged people to be very cautious and adopt safety norms and specifically not be negligent in wearing masks. She said she could see while driving in her car in and around the city that the youth were totally careless in using masks. Of late it has been seen that coronavirus was hitting the youth more than others. Hence, no complacency should be shown by the youth, she added. 

When her attention was drawn to the announcement by Tamil Nadu government to adopt two week long total lockdown from May 10, she said, “we cannot emulate immediately the step taken in some other state. We should consider the local conditions and adopt measures. We are assessing all the prevailing situations to prevent spread of COVID-19 in Puducherry,” the Lt Governor said adding the Centre was coming to the rescue of territorial government in ensuring proper infrastructural facilities, availability of drugs and equipment to tackle the coronavirus. 

She also promised that she would extend her cooperation to the elected government. 

Meanwhile, the Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan launched distribution of five kilo food grains free of cost to the people covered under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana to mitigate the hardships the poorer sections faced during the pandemic. 

Puducherry’s coronavirus tally shot up to 70,076 as 1,703 infections were added afresh during the last 24 hours ending 10 am on Saturday. 

The Union Territory also registered 19 new fatalities, raising the toll to 939. The new cases were identified at the end of examination of 9132 samples projecting test positivity rate at 18.64 per cent, the Director of Health and Family Welfare Services S Mohan Kumar said. 

The UT alone accounted for 1,355 new cases out of the total 1,703 and this is followed by Karaikal 171, Yanam 153 and Mahe 24.