CHENNAI: The expert medical committee has recommended that the Tamil Nadu government extend the lockdown for another 14 days as the state has been witnessing an increase in COVID-19 cases for the last one week.
Speaking to the press on behalf of the committee, Dr Prabhdeep Kaur from the National Institute of Epidemology of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Chennai, said, "17 members participated in the meeting that went on for two hours and expressed their views to the government. Dr Sowmya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist, WHO, also participated through video conferencing from Geneva and expressed her views."
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy held the meeting with the expert committee members through video conferencing from the Secretariat here on Friday.
"During this 14-day lockdown period, the committee suggested more testing on contacts of COVID-19 patients and the data collected from these two weeks should be used to take an informed decision," Dr Prabhdeep said.
The committee discussed the safety of doctors, nurses and other health care workers which is paramount, she said, adding that the needs of patients and their families were also discussed.