Chief Scientist of World Health Organisation, Soumya Swaminathan was on Saturday conferred with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s special award, in recognition of her advisory role in combating the COVID-19 pandemic in the state. Swaminathan received the award from Chief Minister K Palaniswami on the 74th Independence Day celebration at Fort St George here.

The WHO representative has been offering suggestions to the state health department to step up measures in fighting the pandemic. Later, speaking to reporters, Swaminathan thanked the state government for selecting her and advised people to follow the pandemic protocols while venturing out.

“Maintain a six feet social distance, do not go out without wearing masks and be careful while venturing out”, she said. According to the World Health Organisation, Swaminathan has 30 years of experience in clinical care and research and has worked throughout her career to translate her research into impactful programmes.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister’s Best Practices award was bagged by the department of treasuries, while the Greater Chennai Corporation received the second prize for conducting fever clinics across the city to break the transmission chain of COVID-19. Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation received the certificate of appreciation for various steps undertaken to ensure uninterrupted availability of drugs for combating coronavirus.