Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Tuesday said medical experts had assessed that the fast spread of COVID-19 in the union territory in the past few weeks was largely because of arrival of more people from neighbouring Chennai and also those returning from abroad.
"All the inter-State borders would be strictly monitored and none from neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Chennai would be permitted into Puducherry unless it is for medical care here," he told reporters.
The chief minister further said the stringent measures to monitor people from Tamil Nadu and also foreign returnees would go on stream on Wednesday.
"COVID-19 does not originate from the local people. It is only those coming from neighbouring Chennai and also Villupuram and Cuddalore districts of Tamil Nadu and also those returning from foreign countries to Puducherry the spread was galloping," he said after being part of a video conference by the Prime Minister with Chief Ministers of some States and Lt Governors of a few Union Territories.
Narayanasamy also said presently those coming from Tamil Nadu to Puducherry for family functions, funerals and for other reasons had been contributing to the rise in the number of infections in the union territory.
"The local people are the not source of the spread of the disease. Hence from Wednesday, police, Health and Revenue authorities would keep all those arriving from hotspots in neighbouring Tamil Nadu would not be permitted for any unjustified reason," he added.
He said that those coming from Chennai and other places would be required to stay in quarantine if they did not have the necessary permission while those returning from abroad should have authentic evidence about their health status before seeking entry into Puducherry.
The rise in the number of fresh cases of COVID-19 has been a cause of concern to the government.
"The District Collector had been asked to be very strict and stringent in implementing the curbs from Wednesday," the Chief Minister said.
The government also intends to have uniform business hours for all shops and establishments and this would be finalised after a meeting with traders and shopkeepers tomorrow, he added.
The Chief Minister further said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been holding meetings via video conference quite often and had been insisting on dos and don'ts in battling COVID-19.
"The Prime Minister is not, however, making any response to the sustained pleas by the Puducherry government and also various State governments for sanction of funds by the Centre," he added.
"I hope the Prime Minister would come out with an economic bailout as Puducherry had suffered a very serious fiscal loss due to the lockdowns during the last nearly three months," he said.
Narayanasamy said he had already sought Rs 995 crore from the Centre for strengthening the infrastructures in government hospitals to rise to any exigency.
"With the financial position not being good the administration was now facing the need to knock at the doors of the Reserve Bank of India for loans," he said.
The chief minister stressed the need for medical personnel to carry out large number of examinations and testing of swabs should also be augmented as nothing can be taken for granted.
Narayanasamy held a meeting with officials of various departments earlier to review the coronavirus situation and a detailed action plan was finalised to intensify curbs and also to keep a tab on outsiders entering Puducherry for no justifiable reason.
Those violating the lockdown norms would face strict penalty, the chief minister said adding the fine amount for those not wearing masks would be doubled from tomorrow.
Police and Revenue officials would also ensure that there was no unrestricted entry of people from Nagapattinam or Mayiladuthurai in Tamil Nadu into Karaikal region.
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