Amid soaring high COVID-19 cases, Chennai has been going through the swirling speculations on the complete lockdown as the residents have been muddled over the talks that the government would be imposing a complete shutdown for the city barring the existing relaxations to mitigate the rampant spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.

As Tamil Nadu is under the fifth phase of the lockdown, the state government has kept the restrictions with minimal relaxations in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, and Chengalpattu owing to the sharpest rise of COVID-19 cases. However, the current phase hasn't paid off of what the government has expected as the state has been reporting over 1,500 cases for the past few days with the major contribution from Chennai.

While, on one hand, the relaxations have been blamed for the surge in cases, on the other hand, it has spurred the speculations on whether Chennai has the grounds for community transmission. Although the government has denied such notions and asserted that the state has a high recovery rate and low mortality rate, Tamil Nadu is no way near to become a COVID-19 free state.

According to the recent study, Chennai would see 1,50,000 cases by the second week of July with 1,400 deaths as the city has become a major challenge for the government to curb the spread. As the cases have been predicted to peak in the months of September and October with a steady rise in Chennai, it has been speculated that the government would impose a complete lockdown in Chennai and the rest of three districts to grip up the fight against the virus.

These speculations have come amid the recent study that revealed the discrepancy in COVID-19 deaths raising a sharp question on whether the government has compromised its transparency. According to the recent reports, the government has instructed to ban the e-pass for the people who are exiting the city to the other parts of the state. The government would likely barricade the exits and entries in Chennai after the city has emerged as the active and biggest hotspot for COVID-19 spread.

The reports of prohibiting travels to and from the city have signaled whether the government would be imposing the complete lockdown and restrictions in the city leaving the residents with a huge state of commotion. However, special nodal officer for containing COVID-19 in Chennai Dr. Radhakrishnan IAS has denied the grounds of the complete lockdown in four districts including Chennai, and claimed that the information was a rumor and the government has no plan for such implementation.

Must read: TN Govt hasn't recorded 236 COVID-19 deaths in Chennai: What's behind the discrepancy?