The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday extended the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions till November 15 with further relaxations.

The earlier restriction of 11 pm closure deadline for shops/restaurants have been lifted from Saturday. All standalone bars have also been allowed to function.

From November 1, theatres have been allowed to operate with 100 per cent occupancy and full-fledged filming and cultural events have been permitted.

The State government in a release said that intra, inter-district and inter-State air-conditioned buses (except Kerala) will be allowed to have 100 per cent of their seats from November 1.

However, ban on festivals and political events will continue, the release said.

Meanwhile, new Coronavirus cases in the State declined to 1,140 on Saturday from 1,152 on Friday to take the total number of cases in the State to 26,94,089.

After 1,392 persons were discharged, the total number of active cases stood at 13,280. The number of deaths registered was 19, and samples tested was 1,25,158.

Chennai reported 141 (147) new cases while Coimbatore added 132 (140).

As part of the special vaccination camp, a total of 20.05 lakh persons (as at 8.30 pm) were vaccinated on Saturday, as per State Health Department data.

Published on October 23, 2021