No social distancing encouraged at Tamil Nadu Minister’s event in Madurai

At a time when journalists in few Indian states are testing positive for the Coronavirus, an event involving Tamil Nadu Minister for revenue and Disaster Management RB Udhayakumar and the Madurai district administration appeared to follow or encourage hardly any social distancing measures.

Journalists from print and electronic media, who were invited the government departments were seen jostling for space to capture the news. The journalists also say that there were hardly any precautions that were being exercised and encouraged by the authorities.

The event was held this morning in Madurai district’s South Masi street, where the Minister was to declare open 300 shops selling essential items. The large marketplace at South Masi street is said to have over 2000 shops, but they were all shut due to the lockdown and the restrictions that ensued. It was after an inspection by the Minister and the district authorities that 300 shops were opened today.

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A media professional who spoke to WION said that there was no social distancing between the officials themselves and that no arrangements had been made to ensure that the on-site press meet involving over 50 journalists could take place with social distancing measures.

“While it important for the authorities to lead by example and act responsibly at times like these, it is also the clear responsibility of the media fraternity to collectively decide the ways and means to ensure safe coverage at such events. The way in which we were standing to cover the minister’s press only worsened our fears about the rapid spread of the pandemic. We must remind ourselves that Madurai alone has 48 COVID cases” the journalist added.

So far, according to sources in a Chennai-based private Tamil news channel, 27 employees have been tested positive for COVID-19. However, the government bulletin has not mentioned this figure specifically or gone into the details.

According to the channel staff, after 1 employee was tested positive, 94 of the channel’s staff were tested and 26 turned positive and it includes those in news and non-news functions. The channel has suspended news operations and has only a handful of staff to ensure that recorded programming is aired.

As per the latest government bulletin, Tamil Nadu currently has 1596 recorded coronavirus cases, of which 940 are active cases, as 635 patients have been discharged and there have been 18 casualties. Capital city Chennai alone has 358 cases, which is the highest in any district in Tamil Nadu.