Tamil Nadu Imposes Lockdown From May 10 Due To Surge In Covid-19 Cases

Chennai: Amid the rise in Covid-19 cases in Tamil Nadu, a lockdown has been imposed in the state for two weeks, announced Chief Minister MK Stalin.

The lockdown will be effective from 4 am of May 10 till 4 am of May 24.

In view of the lockdown restrictions, all shops and establishments have been allowed to stay open from 6 am to 9 pm on Saturday and Sunday (May 8 and May 9).

Following are some of the restrictions that will be effective from May 10:

• During the lockdown, all grocery shops, shops selling meat and fish will function from 6 am until 12 pm. Apart from this, all commercial establishments have been ordered to remain shut.
• Only takeaways and parcel services will be allowed in restaurants. Tea shops are allowed to be open only till 12 noon. Those staying in hotels will have to be served food in their rooms.
• Hotels and lodges will not be open to the public. They will be open only for business visitors and for medical reasons.
• All events including religious, entertainment, social, political, educational, sports in closed and open-air arenas are banned.
• Beauty salons, spas, saloons etc are prohibited to function across the state.
• All recreation clubs, bars, auditoriums, amusement parks, meeting halls are banned from operations.
• All non-essential services in the state department will remain shut. Secretariat, health, revenue, disaster management, police, fire service, prison departments, local administration, EB, PWD, social welfare, forests department will function.
• All beaches across the state will remain shut. Tourist spots like Nilgiris, Kodaikkanal and Yercaud will not be open to tourists from outstation and local areas.
• Inter-district and intra-district bus services run by the government and private players are prohibited. Taxi services and auto services are also not allowed to operate.
• All e-commerce services except those that supply food (Swiggy, Zomato) and Dunzo will be prohibited during the complete lockdown. Restaurants will only be allowed takeaways.
• Ration shops along with vegetable and flower shops are allowed to be open till 12 noon.
• Banks, insurance companies are allowed to operate with 50% staff.

The state recorded 26,465 new Covid-19 cases, taking the caseload to 13,23,965. The state capital Chennai accounted for 6,738 of the new infections, that takes the total to 3,77,042.