The Tamil Nadu government has extended the lockdown due to Covid-19 till July 31 across the State even as the number of infectedion number of Covid-19 cases continued to hit a new high.

A government release said that the present extensive lockdown - that was to end on Tuesday night —- in force in Chennai, Madurai, Thiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts — will continue till July 5. Further, an intensified and complete lockdown will be in force across the State on all Sundays in July - 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th.

However, after July 5, in Chennai and in neighbouring districts, and in Madurai, the lockdown will revert to the situation that existed before June 19 (with relaxations).

There will not be any public transport from July 1 to 15. A maximum of 50 persons can gather only attend at weddings and funerals. The government has allowed delivery by e-commerce companies.

New high

The decision to extend the lockdown comes on a day when the State reported, yet again, the single highest addition of 3,949 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours to take the total infection in the State to 86,224. With 2,212 Covid-19 patients discharged, the number of active cases stood at 37,331.

For the first time, The number of infections in Chennai crossed the 2,000 mark to was 2,167 to a total of 55,969 cases. Of this, 33,441 Covid-19 patients have been discharged leaving the number of active cases in the city at 21,681.

Madurai reported 290 new cases,; Chengalpattu 187,; Thiruvallur 154,; Vellore 144 and the rest of the cases were numbers distributed across among other districts, including Kancheepuram, Coimbatore, TiruchiTrichy, Dindigul and Theni.

The number of deaths due to the virus in the State increased to 1,141 after 62 persons died today, according to health ministry data.

Earlier in the day the expert group on medical and public health which met Chief Minister Edappadi Edapaddi K Palaniswami recommended that analysis of various epidemiological indicators and field situations might be considered while extending the lockdown.

Expert committee suggestions

It The committee recommended to the State government that there was is no need to extend the lockdown, which is not the solution at all times. However, restrictions need to be increased in zones where health indicators are not satisfactory, Prabhdeep Kaur, ICMR Scientist, told newspersons after the meeting. That lockdown is a blunt instrument. It is not a solution at all times, she added.

In Chennai, coronavirus transmission has slowed down, and the infection’s doubling time has increased. This is good. Though the number of Covid-19 cases have increased, in some areas, the trend is slowing down. There is no need to panic about the increase in numbers, she added.

The committee felt that the focus should be to reduce death rate. This can be done by early detection for any symptom and increased testing. AsLike in Chennai, testing should be increased in major cities including like Madurai, Tiruchirichy, Vellore and TiruvannamalaiTirunannamalai where the virus has started spreading due to higher density, she added.

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