The Tamil Nadu government has extended the lockdown by another week, till July 19, while announcing a few more relaxations to the restrictions. Bakeries, hotels, restaurants and street-side shops can function with 50% upto 9 pm. Operation of bus services to Puducherry have been restarted.
Under the guidelines announced on July 2, dining was allowed in restaurants and food courts with 50% capacity till 8 pm. Intra-district as well as inter-district public transport including buses was also permitted with 50% seating capacity. The requirement of e-registration/e-pass for inter-district travel within the state was removed.
New relaxations announced:
> Bus services to begin for Puducherry.
> Competitive exams for state and union government services can be conducted with the required permission and by following the SOP.
> Hotels, tea shops, bakery, sweet and savoury shops, roadside kirana stores can function with 50% occupancy till 9 pm.
Restrictions to continue on:
> Interstate private and government bus services (Except for Puducherry).
> International flight travel
> Cinema halls
> All bars
> Swimming pools
> Public, political and religious meetings
> Entertainment, sports meets
> Schools and Colleges
> Zoos
> Around 50 people will be permitted to attend marriage ceremonies, while only 20 people are allowed to attend funerals.
Restrictions in containment zones:
> Ensuring Test-track-treat-vaccination-COVID-19 appropriate behaviour
> Only essential services will be allowed
> Door to door tracking will be conducted with the help of volunteers
On Friday, the state registered 3,039 new COVID-19 cases and 69 deaths, with the total number of cases reaching 25.1 lakh. Chennai, on Friday, reported 189 new cases of COVID-19. The number of new COVID-19 cases being reported across the state are on the decline, three districts–Coimbatore, Salem and Dindigul–reported the highest number of cases in the state. The state is again short of vaccines with just over 50,000 doses of vaccine left as on Friday.
Source: The News Minute