CHENNAI: Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar, on Saturday, said that former Health Secretary Beela Rajesh was transferred purely due to administrative reasons and there was no ulterior motive behind it. “We cannot question administrative decisions,” he said, answering a question by a reporter after he inspected COVID-19 containment work in Navalar Nedunchezhian Nagar where seven people have tested positive so far.
Reiterating the need for wearing masks, washing hands with soap and maintaining social distancing, the Minister said that the war against the virus can be won only with the cooperation of the public. On the allegations that the State Government had downplayed the deaths during the pandemic, the Minister said that the Government had no reason to hide deaths and that such COVID-19 deaths cannot be hidden.
He said that the Government was focused on controlling the cases in the city. “A total of 38,000 staff from various departments including Corporation, Health and others are on the field. Of them, 11,000 are involved in getting statistics by undertaking door-to-door surveys,” he said.
“Further, we have identified 8 lakh people across the city who are vulnerable and have comorbidities to track them regularly,” he added. He also said that the relaxations to the lockdown cannot be blamed for increasing cases. “Protecting livelihoods and controlling COVID-19 are on two parallel tracks,” he said.