TN restores curbs again from April 10 as Covid-19 cases rise

With the increase in Coronavirus cases in the last few days, the Tamil Nadu government has rolled out fresh Covid-19 restrictions from April 10 during the lockdown period till the month-end. The restrictions were issued a day after the Madras High Court directed the State government to concentrate on containing the infection spread.

A State government press release said that the E-registration system will continue for those travelling to Tamil Nadu.

It said showrooms, large jewellery and textile showrooms, recreation clubs, entertainment and amusement parks, cinema theatres, multiplex and shopping malls, restaurants and zoos can operated at 50 per cent capacity up to 11 pm.

In all places of worship, devotees will be allowed till 8 pm but festivals and religious events are prohibited.

A maximum of 200 persons can been allowed as part of social, political, educational, sporting and cultural events in indoor venues. Only 100 persons will be allowed to attend wedding functions and 50 persons in funeral processions. Sporting events can take place without spectators. The retail vegetable market at Koyambedu will be closed and buses plying between districts, and in Chennai will be allowed to operate only with passengers seated.

Exhibition halls for B2B will be allowed. Film and television shooting will be allowed. Only two passengers can travel in the autorickshaws, the release said.

PTI adds:

All those above 45 years of age should get vaccinated within two weeks in either government or recognised private facilities to help prevent the virus spread, the government advised.

Retail outlets in big vegetable markets like the sprawling Koyambedu complex here and similar large facilities in districts shall not be allowed to operate, an official release said.

Intake of passengers in buses in Chennai and for intra and inter-state travel shall be confined to seating capacity of vehicles and no passenger shall be allowed to travel by standing. In taxis and autorickshaws, only three and two passengers would be allowed respectively.

50 per cent rule

Be it groceries, retail shops, malls, big format stores, restaurants and tea shops, the number of people who could gather at any given time shall not exceed 50 per cent of the capacity and all outlets could function till 11 pm and take away services would also be open till such time.

The only '50 per cent' rule would also be applicable to movie theatres including single screen and multiplex, zoos, amusement parks, recreation clubs and '200' is the maximum number of people who could be allowed in auditoriums for events including cultural, entertainment, political or sports.

Emphasising strict adherence to Standard Operating Procedures including wearing masks and social distancing, the government appealed to the people to cooperate with it to aid prevention of virus spread.

Firms, factories, commercial complexes and hotels must ensure thermal screening, use of hand sanitisers and masks and expos would be allowed only for Business to Business process.

People who do not wear masks should not be allowed entry in premises including hotels and commerical complexes.

Industries should make arrangements to get employees vaccinated and action would be taken against establishments that do not follow the Standard Operating Procedure.

Though shoots for small screen soaps and movies shall be allowed, artists and employees must undergo RT-PCR tests and get vaccinated and production houses should ensure this, the government said.

On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu witnessed nearly 4,000 new virus cases, of which Chennai and its nearby regions accounted for a significant chunk.

Covid cases

The number of active cases rose to 27,743 on April 7 from 13,070 on March 28, the government said. As part of the strategy to combat the pathgoen spread, increased and aggressive testing was on and about 80,000 RT-PCR tests were being done everyday.

Initiatives -like fever camps, door to door survey to detect people with flu like symtoms and contact tracing of those who were in contact with people who test positive- would be back across the state.

In containment zones, the current curbs would continue without any relaxations and international air travel shall not be allowed according to the Centre's ban.

In Chennai, field level committees for every zone would be set up to bring down the case load and similar panels shall become functional in districts too.

Monitoring mechanism for containment zones (involving personnel from police and health departments besides employees from local bodies) shall be in place to ensure that people do not step outside of such areas.

Volunteers would be assigned to help people in containment zones and they shall ensure availability of essential commodities for residents.

If COVID-19 symptoms are suspected, the nearest government facility should be approached, the government said and sought public cooperation.

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