Coronavirus crisis | Tamil Nadu government to distribute 14 crore free face masks

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has announced that the government is taking efforts to distribute two masks each to seven crore people part of 2.1 crore ration cards across the state. The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) had already begun distributing around 1.5 crore face masks for free to the people in the city with the CM reiterating that there is no shortage of ventilators in the state. Hospitals in TN have around 2,700 ventilators and another 600+ ventilators were recently said to have been acquired by the state government.

The government, medical officials and health workers have been urging people to wear face masks at all times when they venture out of their homes. With the phased exit out of the lockdown currently underway across many parts of the nation including Tamil Nadu with the exemption of Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Chengalpet districts and taking into account the sharp rise of the number of coronavirus cases especially in the state's capital, the stress for protection which includes the practice of wearing a mask had been emphasized as well as mandated since the nation went into lockdown in March.