As Tamil Nadu is increasing its number of coronavirus testing centres and asking hospitals to keep isolation wards ready for COVID-19 patients, actor Kamal Haasan took to Twitter on Wednesday, 26 March, offering to convert his former house into a temporary hospital if needed and if the government permits.
His tweet read,
“At this crucial time, I am willing to convert my former house into a temporary hospital. The doctors in Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) are ready to serve the patients also if government permits. In this time of crisis, I am trying to help the people, to bring the people into the justice system, into the building that was my home, to temporarily help the people.” [sic]Kamal Haasan in a tweet
The building has been the office for his party MNM.
Haasan also wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take ‘swift steps to save the livelihood’ of millions in the country's workforce.
“More than 90 percent of our workforce is the informal sector who make their daily ends meet [sic]. If we consider the workforce even in the ‘formal’ sector that does not enjoy standard employee benefits, this could be more than 95%. They are our construction workers, agriculture and manual labourers, fishermen, MSME workers and so on.”Haasan’s letter to PM
He urged people to help out the marginalised and day wage labourers who have lost their jobs and must be struggling during this lockdown.
He extended complete support to the Prime Minister Modi’s janata curfew and the 21-day lockdown. “It’s a disaster that has befallen on us and by staying united and indoors, we can Stay Safe,” read his tweet.
The actor has been quarantined along with his daughter Akshara in their home in Chennai. His older daughter Shruti Haasan in in self-isolation in Mumbai.
Eight new cases were recorded in Tamil Nadu, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases to 26.
The first death recorded was recorded in the wee hours on Wednesday, when a 54-year-old man infected with coronavirus died at a hospital in Madurai, due to the pandemic. The patient had a medical history of steroid-dependent COPD, uncontrolled diabetes and hypertension, the state Health Minister C Vijayabaskar said.
The second patient has recovered well and has tested negative in the two COVID-19 tests now, he said. He is likely to be discharged in two days. The first COVID-19 patient has already recovered and has been discharged.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)