CHENNAI: Actor Rajinikanth on Saturday released a statement and video urging people of Tamil Nadu to extend their full cooperation to the nation-wide ‘janata curfew’ called for by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday. India, that is currently in Stage 2 of COVID-19 pandemic, should be prevented from moving on to Stage 3, the actor said, in the minute-long video posted on his official Twitter handle. However, doctors and social media users slammed the portion of the video in which he suggested that the spread of the virus could be contained by the curfew.
“If the Coronavirus is kept from spreading for 12 to 14 hours, it can be stopped from moving on to Stage 3. This is why Prime Minister Modi has called for the janata curfew on March 22,” he said. By 8 pm on Saturday, the video had been removed from his Twitter, possibly a result of users mass-reporting it for misinformation, as some had suggested. However, the video was still available on YouTube.
Rajini’s comments were raised at Health Minister C Vijayabaskar’s press conference as well, but the minister evaded the question by saying he had not seen the video. When contacted, a city-based doctor, who did not want to be named, said while the curfew might temporarily help in breaking the cycle of transmission it might be ineffective in containing the virus for long.
“However, the curfew will help in slowing down the process which might give hospitals a brief respite and also, is a good exercise to help people practice restraint in making necessary or unnecessary contact,” he said. Makkal Needhi Maiam leader Kamal Haasan, in a separate video, also reiterated the need to practice social distancing.