Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami has convened a video conference meeting with the districts collectors on Monday and took stock of the developments from the districts on how the measures have been tightened to combat the spread of the Coronavirus in the state as Tamil Nadu stands at the second spot in India with more affected cases due to the virus in the middle of the unprecedented lockdown.

While addressing the reporters after the meet, which is the second one in the span of ten days, the Chief Minister said that the state is under an emergency that has been brought by the virus and revealed that the state has ordered one lakh rapid testing kits from China, where the virus originated late last year, and the kits would be arriving in the state on April 9th after which it would be shipped to all the districts to strengthen the testing capabilities.

The Chief Minister stated that the Central government has sanctioned Rs 500 crore to the state disaster relief fund to enhance the mechanisms. According to the reports, Edappadi Palaniswami has earlier demanded the Center to release Rs 12,000 crore assistance to procure medical and personal protective equipment and to enhance the health infrastructure in the state. However, the Center has announced its pledge of Rs 500 crore.

He further stated that Tamil Nadu currently has 17 testing centers, including six centers installed by the private sector, and the state government is waiting for the Center's consent to install additional 21 labs. While addressing the prevailing demand for the door to door delivery of the goods as the movement of the people have been strictly restricted, he said that such delivery would require more manpower and the state government has been offering door to door delivery services for 90,541 people who have been kept under home quarantine to contain the spread and they would be delivered with the essentials.

He added that the government has issued advisories to the district collectors to arrange home delivery wherever possible and to install mobile vegetable shops to ensure that the people won't exit their residences unnecessarily. As of Tuesday morning, Tamil Nadu reported with 621 cases positive for the virus of which 607 are active patients, eight have been recovered and discharged while six have succumbed to the virus. These active cases include Indians and foreign nationals and getting treated across the state.