Amid the Coronavirus outbreak, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached out to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami over the phone on Friday and urged the latter to strictly enforce the three-weeks nationwide lockdown in the state to grip up the fight against the global pandemic.

According to the state government's press release, the Prime Minister has asked Edappadi Palanswami to ensure the availability of the essential commodities for the people during the tenure of the curfew. Modi enquired about the precautions and preventive measures rolled out by various government departments in the state to contain the spread of the virus.

Through the phone call, Modi pressed the Chief Minister to enforce the prohibitory orders under section 144 and social distancing across the state. Social distancing has been one of the top preventive measures on the fray to combat the contagion, which is the human to human transmitting virus and has been rapidly spreading across the nation.

In return, the reports stated that the Chief Minister has updated Modi on the steps and measures implemented by the state government and asserted the Prime Minister that all the steps would be taken towards ensuring the availability of the essential commodities. The phone call between the leaders had come a day after the state government of Tamil Nadu ordered to extend the curfew till April 14th with the view of mapping the state with the nationwide curfew. Earlier, the curfew was imposed till March 31st.

The state has hit its third day of the curfew on Friday by having all the non-essential services, establishments, and companies closed and transportations suspended across the state to get rid of the larger risk of the pandemic. All the essential services are functioning normally. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi had imposed the nationwide lockdown for the 21 days and this unprecedented experiment would be in place till April 14th, 2020 with the view of curbing the spread of the virus. 

As of Friday noon, Tamil Nadu has reported with 35 positive cases for the virus - of which 33 active cases while one has been recovered and the other had died making the state record its first fatality. The Chief Minister has ordered to appoint 530 doctors, 1000 nurses, 1500 technicians directed to deploy 200 ambulances across the state to treat the virus-affected patients. As of Friday noon, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus research center, India has reported with 753 positive cases of which 666 are active cases who are getting treated while 67 have been recovered and the death toll stands at 20 so far. 

Also read: COVID-19: Tamil Nadu reports with six fresh cases putting the total to 35!