The Tamil Nadu state government has on Thursday openly admitted that the COVID-19 pandemic is out of control in the state. The shocking admission has come when the state has been bracing up the second wave of the novel coronavirus that has got more severity than the preceding one, that erupted last year. 

Tamil Nadu has been witnessing a steady spike in the COVID-19 cases since mid-February and the surge has been in a never-witnessed fashion, which had pushed the state government to bring back strict restrictions to contain the spread. A fresh set of restrictions and guidelines had come into effect in the state on April 10, four days after the assembly polls. 

The restrictions would be in place till April 30 and while the government had already canceled the physical classes for the students of class 9 and board exams for the students of classes 10 and 11, it was facing a hearing from the high court over the petition that filed against its order of canceling the arrear exams for the college students except those who are in the final year. On August 26, 2020, the state government had canceled the arrear exams for students in Arts, Science, Engineering, and Computer Application programmes, except for those in their final years, by citing the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The government has said that all students who have arrears, except in their final years, would be declared pass. While the order had poured relief for the students, it had caught more objections from the educationalists. Former  Anna University's Vice-Chancellor Balagurusamy and advocate Ram Kumar Adithan had filed petitions at the high court challenging the government's order. In his plea, Adithan called the order canceling the arrear exams illegal, arbitrary, discriminatory, and against the principle of natural justice. 

Adithan had also said that the state government's announcement will lower the standards of education of the students and the universities and has demoralized the students who have worked hard to pass their exams. The High court had probed the petition and during the previous hearing, the court has condemned the Tamil Nadu state government's decision of declaring the students with arrear exams pass without conducting the exams. 

The matter had come to the hearing on Thursday before the High Court bench headed by the Chief Justice. During the hearing, the state government has openly admitted that the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is out of control in the state. The judges said to the public prosecutor that the second wave of COVID-19 is rampantly spreading and enquired about the reports over the adequacy of the COVID-19 vaccines in the state. 

In his response, the public prosecutor said that the state has adequate COVID-19 vaccines in stock and admitted that the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak has already gone out of control in the state. After the hearing, the court has ordered the state government to conduct the arrear exams for college students online within eight weeks. The court also has advised the government to consult with the University Grants Commission on the guidelines to be followed for these exams. 

According to reports, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan would be meeting the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court on Thursday to brief him about the COVID-19 situation in the state and about the measures and guidelines that can be followed in the courts across Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu has been witnessing a severe second wave of COVID-19 by reporting heavy caseloads. For the first time since the outbreak, Tamil Nadu has reported 7,819 cases on Wednesday, the highest single-day spike. According to the state health department, Tamil Nadu has reported 9,54,948 COVID-19 cases so far as of Wednesday of which 54,315 are active, 8,87,663 have been discharged, and 12,970 had succumbed to the viral infection.