Routine exercises important for immunity, mental health: Ma Su

He added that all the health infrastructure would be kept intact till the end of the year to tackle the situation in the event of a third wave. Excerpts:

The number of fresh COVID cases has come down but virologists are forecasting a third wave. What is your take?

•Though new cases have come down, the threat of the third wave cannot be dismissed. The Delta Plus variant that transmits fast is a challenge, but life has to move on. The public should start their morning exercises to improve their immunity. A lot of people are suffering from depression and lockdown-induced mental fatigue. My best bet is routine morning exercises and social distancing. From the government end, we will continue to test the maximum number of samples to ensure that we are tracking the virus. Currently, we are testing around 1.6 lakh samples, which will continue.

How equipped is the State to handle the possibility of a third wave?

•The large-scale COVID care centres established in tier-one cities like Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Tiruchy, Salem and Tirunelveli will remain intact. The primary health centres that were converted as smaller COVID care centres are now back to their earlier routine. Such health infrastructure will continue to be intact with regular maintenance till the end of this year. There are about 80,000 beds, and our oxygen storage capacity has now increased to 900 metric tonnes.

You have been the Mayor of Chennai and now the Health Minister? Is there a difference between these roles?

•The role of Mayor was more physically draining, but it never had an emotional attachment. It was all about Chennai and its infrastructure. But being the Health Minister is an emotional and demanding role. When people visit and complain about their illness and COVID deaths, it is depressing and tough to move on. During the peak of the pandemic, every day was a nightmare. There were hospital managers and doctors at my residence throughout the night, working out strategies to get oxygen cylinders. Again, the next morning there would be shortage of cylinders and Remdesivir. But now, due to the steps taken by Chief Minister MK Stalin, the situation has improved.

Suicides due to COVID deaths and job loss continue to make headlines. Your comments:

•The CM has unveiled the scheme to take care of the children who lost their parents. We are also providing counselling in major hospitals, which we are planning to extend across the State.

As a diabetic, what steps and precautions are you taking during the pandemic?

•To keep myself physically and emotionally fit, I have resumed my marathons. I completed the half-marathon at the reserve forest of Vandalur hills last week, and now a full marathon at Vallimalai hills in Tiruvannamalai on Monday. Even at home, I am wearing a mask while meeting people, and social distancing is essential for all. The Health Minister, who arrived in Tiruvannamalai on Sunday was put up at Minister EV Velu’s guest house inside the Arunai engineering college. Ma Subramanian, in running gear, left the guest house for a jog at 5.30 am. He, along with two friends, jogged down the Tiruvannamalai-Tirukoilur road.