Tamil Nadu begins New Year with lockdown-like restrictions: Details here

Chennai, Dec 31: New Year will begin with fresh lockdown-like restrictions in Tamil Nadu amid a spike in Covid cases. According to the new restrictions, the government has put a cap on attendees of marriage, funerals and halving the number of customers in different types of commercial establishments.

COVID Restrictions In Tamil Nadu

Playschools and kindergarten sections will not be run and there won't be any direct classes for standards 1-8 till January 10.

Classes for standards 9-12, colleges and ITIs will be held in compliance with Standard Operating Procedures while existing guidelines will apply for places of worship.

All exhibitions and book fairs are being postponed.

Dine-in services at restaurants, hotels, and bakeries have been restricted to 50 per cent of the capacity, while amusement parks can be operated only with a similar number of persons.

The 50 per cent cap also applies to textile showrooms, jewellery shops, gyms and yoga centres, multiplex/cinema theatres (of the allowed seats), beauty spas and salons and indoor games.

Metro rail services can operate only with a 50 per cent seating capacity, while only seated passengers will be allowed in government bus services.

Participants in weddings should be restricted to 100 while only 50 persons would be allowed in death-related events.

CM Stalin on curbs

Urging people to get vaccinated, the chief minister also stressed on other covid-appropriate behaviour such as wearing face-mask.

All employees in commercial establishments should have been vaccinated against Covid-19. Further, action will be taken if mask wearing is not followed by establishments and customers.

As part of virus containment measures, Test-Track-Treat-Vaccination-Covid-19 Appropriate Behaviour will be strictly implemented, Stalin said.

Further, only essential services should be allowed in containment zones while door-to-door survey by committees in such areas will also be undertaken to prevent the spread of the contagion, he said.

Those violating pandemic containment measures will be fined, the CM warned.

He appealed to people to refrain from crowding during the coming festive season and stressed on social distancing and wearing of mask.

Tamil Nadu recorded a sharp rise with 1,155 new Covid-19 infections on Friday, including returnees from domestic and overseas destinations, thereby pushing the caseload to 27,48,045.

The death toll mounted to 36,776 with 11 more people succumbing to the contagion.

New Covid-19 infections have been increasing in Tamil Nadu over the last two days.