Amid floating speculations on whether the Tamil Nadu government would extend the statewide lockdown beyond May 3, the state expert committee has disclosed the interim report to Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami on Friday by letting him take the final call on the lockdown extension to stem the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic in the state.

According to the reports, the expert committee consists of 17 members and headed by Tamil Nadu Finance Secretary Krishnan. The committee has been installed by the Chief Minister to advise and to suggest the government on the guidelines and steps to be taken after May 3 and to provide inputs on the lockdown plans. 

The committee has met with various stakeholders, drafted the recommendations, and submitted its interim report to the Chief Minister at the high time when the state's graph has been witnessing a sharp rise in the total number of affected cases. The reports have indicated that the government is considering extending the lockdown for at least two more weeks beyond May 3 to curb the spread of the virus. 

It also has to address the hardship and economical instability endured by the people in the wake of the lockdown. Tamil Nadu Opposition leader and DMK President MK Stalin had, on Thursday, urged the state government to announce its decision on relaxing and extending the lockdown in advance instead of announcing at last minute, so that people can get settled down with precautions.

Stalin has stated that people are locked up in their homes for 35 days and they are anxious to know whether the government would pour relaxations on the restrictions. The Central and state governments must announce their decisions by considering the livelihood of the people.

The state of Tamil Nadu has been under complete lockdown since March 24 and the extended spell of the lockdown would come to an end by May 3. The lockdown has been imposed by the state government to flatten the curve of COVID-19 affected cases by providing some relaxations to the essential services. The state has reported about 400 fresh cases in the last three days. As of Thursday evening, the state has reported 2,323 positive cases of which 1,035 are active patients, 1,258 have been discharged while 27 had succumbed to the virus.