With the view of ensuring that a common man in Tamil Nadu has the COVID-19 essential items in a hand-reach at an affordable price, the state government has on Tuesday fixed the maximum retail price for 15 items after declaring them as essential items to beat the pandemic. These 15 essential items include hand sanitiser, face masks,  face shields, surgical masks, and PPE kits. 

In a statement, the Health and Family Welfare Department said, "The Director of Drugs Control has informed the government that in order to ensure the availability of essential medical items during the COVID-19 pandemic at reasonable prices to the common man, it is imperative to declare certain items as essential under the Tamil Nadu Essential Article Control and Requisitioning Act, 1949, and to fix the maximum price of the same." 

To ensure that the essential items are traded at the maximum retail place, Governor of Tamil Nadu Banwarilal Purohit has fixed the maximum retail price. According to the order, the maximum retail price of a surgical gown is Rs 65, a pair of sterile gloves is Rs 15, a pair of examination gloves is Rs 5.75, a non-rebreather mask is Rs 80, and an oxygen mask is Rs 54. 

As per the order, the maximum retail price of 200 ml of hand sanitisers at Rs 110, N95 masks at Rs 22, surgical mask-2 ply at Rs 3,  surgical mask-3 ply at Rs 4, surgical mask-3 ply with non-woven melt-blown fabric at Rs 4.50 per piece, the maximum price of a set of personal protective equipment kit is fixed at Rs 273, and the price of a disposable apron is at Rs 12. 

The Governor has also declared that the maximum retail price of a face shield at Rs 21, fingertip pulse oximeter at Rs 1,500, and the price of a flowmeter with a humidifier at Rs 1,520. According to the state health department, Tamil Nadu has reported 18,023 fresh COVID-19 cases, 31,045 discharges, and 409 deaths on Tuesday. Overall, the state had recorded 22,74,704 cases so far as of Tuesday of which 2,18,595 are active, 20,28,344 have been discharged, and 27,765 people had succumbed to the viral infection.