The rampage of the second wave of COVID-19 continues across India, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday calling on the Chief Ministers of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to discuss the situation in their states. As the country continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, the last 24 hours have witnessed 3,11,170 new cases being reported, with the overall tally now at 2.46 crore, followed by 4,077 deaths taking the toll to 2,70,284, while the number of active cases currently stands at 26.18 lakh. The Centre has been taking great efforts to do a makeover of the national vaccination plan as the lockdowns initiated by many states are gradually bringing down the number of coronavirus cases.
In that light, Tamil Nadu reported 33,658 fresh COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours taking the state's active case load to two lakhs, with a total of 6,640 people testing positive and 82 people succumbing to the disease. With the lockdown in effect in the state till May 24 and the government taking great efforts to fight the pandemic, people from all walks of life are offering a helping hand by raising an awareness, volunteering in various service efforts or extending monetary contributions. Likewise, many notable celebrities have also stepped forward in doing their part to help the state fight the pandemic, including veteran actor Sivakumar and his sons Suriya and Karthi earlier this week meeting the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and donating Rs. 1 crore to the state’s COVID-19 relief fund. Similarly, actor-politician Udhayanidhi Stalin and superstar Ajith Kumar have donated up to Rs. 25 lakhs each to the CM's corona aid relief fund.
On Sunday, acclaimed Tamil film directors Shankar and Vetri Maaran too joined in on lending their support to the state government, with the former donating Rs.10 lakhs through online transaction to the CM's corona relief fund, while the latter personally met Chief Minister MK Stalin and did his part in contributing the same sum by handing over a cheque. It is to be noted that director A. R. Murugadoss too had contributed Rs. 25 lakhs to the CM relief fund.