As Tamil Nadu is two days ahead to mark the deadline of the lockdown that was imposed in the state on May 10, the state prepares for stricter lockdown after May 24 as the MK Stalin-led government has on Saturday announced the lockdown extension for a week from May 24 to May 31. The fresh phase of the lockdown will come with no relaxations. 

On Saturday morning, Chief Minister MK Stalin had convened a meet with the advisory committee that consists of members from all the parties in the assembly and with the health experts to discuss and obtain their views over extending the lockdown. The reports say that the advisory committee and health experts had played a pivotal role and they were a part of Stalin's mind in imposing stricter lockdown.

The committee with the representatives of all the parties was recently formed by MK Stalin to advise and recommend the Covid containment measures to the government. The first-of-its-kind committee consists of current MLAs of the assembly - Former Health Minister C Vijayabaskar (ADMK), Ezhilan (DMK), AM Munirathinam (Congress), GK Mani (PMK), Nainar Nagendran (BJP), Sadhan Thirumalaikumar (MDMK), SS Balaji (VCK), Ramachandran (CPI), VP Nagai Magai Mali (CPM), MH Jawahirullah (MMK), ER Eswaran (KDMK), T Velmurugan (TVK), and Poovai Jaganmoorthy (Purathchi Bharatam) as its members. 

The committee has tabled its first meet on Saturday since its formation to discuss the lockdown extension. During the meeting, all the members of the committee had echoed in one voice and unanimously supported the implementation of a stricter lockdown in the state to tackle the COVID-19 spread. One of the crucial voices in the meeting was former health minister C Vijayabaskar, who represented the opposition ADMK party. 

By insisting on the implementation of the complete lockdown, C Vijayabaskar has suggested the government permit the functioning of the extremely essentials services including milk distribution, vegetable and grocery stores, and pharmacies during the complete lockdown. He also said that the essential commodities should be supplied to the residences through vehicles and he also urged the government to pace up the CT scans to ascertain the exact infection rate of the pandemic in a person. 

PMK's MLA GK Mani has advised the government to permit the functioning of essential shops once in five days and he also urged the government to fix a price for CT scans at the private laboratories. In line with the ADMK, the MLAs from BJP and Congress had asked the state government to strengthen and strictly enforce the lockdown in the state to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the MLA from the CPI has suggested the government initiate the containment measures to curb the spread in the rural areas, the legislator representing CPI(M) has asked the government to take stock of the situations faced by the poor and middle-class people during the complete lockdown. Velmurugan of Tamilar Valvurimai Katchi had recommended the government to supply the essential commodities at the doorstep by closing the essential shops. 

Eswaran MLA has said that the implementation of the containment measures in villages must be overviewed by a teacher per 100 people and agriculture will be in a crisis if the COVID-19 spread is not contained in the villages. Eswaran has also asked the government to direct the police personnel to behave in a humane nature during patrolling duties and inspections. He further urged the government to be prepared to witness the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.