Beaches across the state are also out of bounds for the public.
The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday announced new restrictions in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases. Beginning April 20, Tuesday, Tamil Nadu will once again see night curfew between 10 pm and 4 am every day. The state has also brought back Sunday lockdown that was in place during the peak of the pandemic last year.
During this time, private and public transportation, taxis and autos will not be allowed to ply. Transportation from outside the state and between districts will not be allowed to function when night curfew is in place. Persons driving only for emergencies will be allowed during curfew.
All beaches across the state are now out of bounds for the public. Tourism to Ooty, Kodai, etc is no longer allowed. Public will also not be allowed to museums, parks, zoos, and ASI sites on any given day.
Essential services like milk and newspaper deliveries, hospitals and diagnostic centres, pharmacies, ambulance, and vehicles transporting petrol, diesel, LPG will be exempted from night curfew timings. Journalists, petrol bunks, continuous process industries and industries producing essentials will be allowed to work irrespective of curfew timing. Persons whose work timings fall in the night too can be allowed to go to their place of work by producing required ID.
Public and private buses between districts will take in passengers after checking their temperature and will also ensure they have their face masks on. Crowding too should be avoided.
On Sunday, during full lockdown, meat shops,fish markets, vegetable shops, cinema theatres, commercial establishments and all shops should remain closed. However, essential services listed above will be allowed on Sundays as well. As for restaurants and hotels, timings will be restricted to 6 am to 10 am, 12 pm to 3 pm and 6 pm to 9 pm on Sundays. Only delivery services will be allowed and service providers such as Swiggy and Zomato can function during the said time. Other e-commerce platforms are not permitted to function during Sundays.
The new restrictions come hours after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami chaired a meeting with senior officials to review the COVID-19 situation in the state. As of April 17, Tamil Nadu reported 65,635 active COVID-19 cases. Chennai has recorded a bulk of the infections, with 23,625 active COVID-19 cases.
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Source: The News Minute