Amidst Covid-19 surge in TN, Madras HC urges parties to follow norms

The Madras High Court on Monday urged political parties and candidates to follow safety protocols amid a rise in Covid-19 cases in the state with Chennai being a hotspot. The court also observed that it would do good if the Election Commission of India (ECI) issued a message on the same so that there is compliance in mask-wearing and social distancing.

This was after the court dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) that sought a prohibition on political parties from campaigning for the assembly elections slated for April 6 in Tamil Nadu to avoid crowds and prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease.

It’s officially summer in the southern state and with heightened political activity, the state health authorities are bracing for a second wave after a steep fall in infections. The state’s higher education department on Monday ordered all colleges and universities to conduct classes and exams online starting March 23 after a meeting was held with vice-chancellors of all universities to avoid clusters in educational institutions.

The state is back to increased RT-PCR testing, contact tracing and micro containment of streets to handle the surge, said health secretary J Radhakrishnan. “Ten days ago, the test positivity was around 1 per cent from 100 samples tested and now it is more than 2 per cent,” said Radhakrishnan. “We are doing random RT-PCR testing. We have directed all district-level election officials to oversee pandemic norms that are maintained in political party meetings,” he said.

Two key candidates of actor-politician Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) tested positive for Covid-19 in Chennai. Late President Abdul Kalam’s former advisor V Ponraj, who is contesting from Chennai’s Anna Nagar, and former IAS officer Santosh Babu contesting from Velachery have tested positive. They will continue to campaign through digital platforms.

While state leaders, including chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami and DMK president MK Stalin, have predominantly worn masks in public, campaign meetings follow no pandemic rules. Thousands gather together with no physical distancing and mask compliance. A day ago, Stalin while campaigning in Coimbatore embarrassed his partymen who weren’t wearing masks properly. The opposition leader wasn’t wearing a mask himself when he made the comment. He said he didn’t wear one as he was campaigning from inside his van and wasn’t in proximity to anyone.

Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) chief TTV Dhinakaran released a statement on Monday urging people to be vigilant amidst rising cases and requested his cadre to avoid presenting shawls and bouquets.

On Monday, the state reported 1,385 cases thereby making it the fourth consecutive day for the state to register more than 1,000 infections. Chennai reported 496 cases. The total number of cases is 868, 367 in the state from an overall of 18,854,356 samples tested.

Tamil Nadu’s 259 labs conduct only RT-PCR testing which is the gold standard to detect the novel coronavirus. The government has ordered classes 9 to 11 to function online after a Covid-19 cluster was found in Thanjavur where 56 people, including students and teachers in schools, tested positive.