Ahead of the impending third wave of COVID-19, the Tamil Nadu health secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan said on Monday that the state government is planning to train healthcare workers to cope up with the next wave of the pandemic.

“Doctors and nurses would be trained to cope with the possible third wave and already the infrastructure at all the paediatric wards in the government hospitals across the state have been upgraded,” Dr Radhakrishnan told news agency PTI.

He also said that the government is planning to vaccinate the people from the most vulnerable sections of the society against the coronavirus disease.

"Besides localised cases will be closely monitored and the “government’s efforts are oriented towards averting any new infections," he added.

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The Tamil Nadu health secretary highlighted that the causal approach among the people towards the pandemic could lead to a apike in Covid-19 cases.

“Some people are still not wearing face masks or following social distancing. The absence of masks and non-conformity to social distancing norms are causing concern,” Dr Radhakrishnan pointed out.

Amid the pandemic situation, the TN government has extended the ongoing lockdown till July 31.

Meanwhile, On Sunday, Tamil Nadu reported 1808 cases with its overall tally going to 25,48,497. The active cases stand at 23,364.

Regarding inoculation, the senior official said the government has planned to cover the most vulnerable sections soon, subject to availability of vaccines. "The emergence of Covid variant is not in our control. So, we have to be mentally prepared to face any eventuality," Radhakrishnan said.

(With agency inputs)

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