R. ARIVANANTHAM
CHENNAI, JULY 30
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami announced extension in the COVID-19 lockdown across the state till the midnight of August 31. The extended lockdown will have certain relaxations in non-containment zones.
However, complete lockdown will be strictly observed on intervening five Sundays to prevent people from thronging to buy fish, mutton etc.
“All five Sundays in August will have total shutdown, without any relaxations,” the Chief Minister said.
In a release issued here on Thursday, the Chief Minister announced certain relaxations which includes scaling up workforce in private establishments and allowing dine-in services in hotels and restaurants.
Extending the total shutdown imposed across the state on Sundays in July to August, the Chief Minister intense curbs will be in place on the Sundays’ (August 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30).
The Independence Day celebrations will be celebrated across the state as per Central government guidelines on precautions like social distancing and use of masks, the statement said.
Existing ban on religious congregations, operation of public transport, shopping malls, theatres and bars and all kinds of political and sporting activities, inter-state public and private transport will continue, he added.
The Chief Minister announced the extension of lockdown after held a detailed meeting with the medical experts, which was followed by the cabinet meeting.
He also said that the free masks will be distributed in all the PDS outlets from August 5. To prevent mass gathering, employees of ration shops will issue tokens at the door steps of the family card holders.
The announcement came a day after Tamil Nadu’s COVID-19 tally jumped to 2,34,114 on Wednesday, with 6,426 new cases being recorded. The death toll in the state stands at 3,741, with 82 fatalities reported yesterday.
Palaniswami yesterday told District Collectors from the Secretariat in a virtual meeting that expeditious measures taken by his government have helped contain the spread of the contagion.
“Overcoming the challenges posed by the coronavirus, the government strived to improve the health of the people, besides the fiscal health of the state. The government ensured uninterrupted availability of essential commodities during the four months of lockdown (March-June),” he said.
