In the midst of the speculations on whether the Tamil Nadu state government would be imposing the complete and enhanced lockdown in Chennai and its adjacent districts to subdue the rapid spread of the Coronavirus pandemic, Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami has said the government has no plan of such enhanced implementation of the restrictions.

While addressing the reporters in his home district of Salem on Friday, the Chief Minister has completely denied such speculations and called the circulation of such narratives on social media are false. By citing that the government hasn't issued any announcements regarding the complete lockdown, he stated that strict actions would be taken against those, who are spreading false messages, under legal grounds.

His denial has come when the residents of Chennai and the neighboring districts have been muddled over the messages swirled on social media that the government would be imposing a complete lockdown as the sequel of the exponential rise of COVID-19 cases. It was also speculated that the government has decided to barricade to and fro movements in Chennai by barring the distribution of e-passes.

In his address, the Chief Minister said that he himself had seen a message under his name on WhatsApp and he, for yet another time, attributed the soaring high cases in Chennai to the dense and congested population in the city. According to the Chief Minister, the city has at least 87 lakh people and it has a dense population and narrow streets which are the larger factors behind the sharpest rises in the city.

The state government has also disclosed its reports to the Madras High Court bench on Friday in which it has asserted the high court bench that it has no plans to implement the complement lockdown in Chennai or in the state and it also affirmed that the government hasn't barred the issuance of the e-passes to the residents in Chennai. 

On Thursday, the high court bench comprised of Justices Vineet Kothari and Suresh Kumar has asked the state government if it has been planning to implement the complete lockdown, following which the Chief Minister has issued the denial on such speculations. 

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