Tamil Nadu government on Sunday announced new guidelines regarding intensified restrictions in the wake of rising Covid-19 cases. Beginning on Tuesday 20 April, Tamil Nadu will once again see night curfew between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. every day. The state has also brought back Sunday lockdown that was in place during the peak of the pandemic last year.
During the night curfew, private and public transportation, taxis and autos will not be allowed to run. Transportation from outside the state and between districts will not be allowed to function when night curfew is in place. Persons driving only for emergencies will be allowed during curfew.
Essential services like milk and newspaper deliveries, hospitals and diagnostic centres, pharmacies, ambulance, and vehicles transporting petrol, diesel, LPG will be exempted from night curfew timings.
Journalists, petrol bunks, continuous process industries and industries producing essentials will be allowed to work during curfew timing. Persons whose work timings fall in the night too can be allowed to go to their place of work by producing required ID.
On Sunday, during full lockdown, meat shops, fish markets, vegetable shops, cinema theatres, commercial establishments and all shops would remain closed.
As for restaurants and hotels, timings will be restricted to 6 a.m. to 10 a.m, 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays.
Only delivery services will be allowed and service providers like Swiggy and Zomato can function during the said time. Other e-commerce platforms are not permitted to function during Sundays.
Board exams for class12 students in Tamil Nadu have been postponed, however the practical exams will be conducted as planned. All classes for college students must be conducted online. Summer camps will not be allowed.
All beaches across the state are now out of bounds for the public. Tourism to Ooty, Kodaikanal and Yercaud is no longer allowed. Public will also not be allowed to museums, parks, zoos, and ASI sites on any given day.
Public and private buses between districts will take in passengers after checking their temperature and will also ensure they have their face masks on.
Crowding too should be avoided. All IT and IT service related companies have been advised to instruct 50 per cent of its workforce to work from home.
Tea shops, malls, restaurants, big format stores, grocery shops, vegetable shops etc can only allow 50 per cent occupancy and stay open only upto 9 p.m. daily.
Not more than 100 persons are to be allowed in weddings and as for funerals the number stands at 50.
Theatres can continue to function with 50 per cent occupancy. Any establishment that goes beyond 50 per cent occupancy at any given point will be subject to strict action.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu on Sunday recorded an all time high in daily Covid-19 cases by adding 10,723 more infections, pushing the total caseload to 9.91 lakh.
The toll mounted to 13,113 with 42 fatalities in the last 24 hours.
According to a medical bulletin, total recoveries climbed to 9,07,947 with 5,925 patients being discharged, leaving 70,391 active infections. Testing of samples stood at 1,10,130, pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined to 2.11 crore so far.