Tamil Nadu reports 13,990 new Covid cases; govt extends curbs till Jan 31, night curfew to continue

Chennai, Jan 10: Tamil Nadu government has extended the existing Covid-19 curbs in the state till January 31 and imposed additional restrictions over the entry into religious places of worship from January 14 to 18, to contain the spread of Covid-19 during Pongal festival.

The state government has decided to extend Night curfew, which was imposed from January 6, will continue till this month-end and there will be a complete lockdown on January 16 (Sunday). A decision to further extend the covid curbs that was extended on December 31, 2021, was made at a meeting of senior officials and medical experts chaired by Chief Minister M K Stalin here on Monday, PTI reports.

However, the government has allowed travel in state-run buses with 75 per cent occupancy to enable the people to reach their native districts to celebrate Pongal festival. Other restrictions pertaining to restaurants' take away service and theatres will continue till this month-end, the release said.

The Tamil Nadu government urged the people to get fully vaccinated against COVID-19 at the earliest and also asked the traders and business establishments to provide hand sanitiser and strictly follow the government COVID safety norms.

Tamil Nadu on Monday recorded 13,990 fresh Covid-19 cases, while active cases soared to 62,767.

On Sunday, the state had recorded 12,895 new coronavirus cases in a single day.

Nine passengers who came from Bangladesh and two each from Sri Lanka and UAE were infected by the virus besides those from the states of West Bengal with 8, Assam with 3, Kerala with 2, Andhra Pradesh with 2; Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Bihar and Jharkhand with one each among the fresh cases, the state health department bulletin stated.

No new Omicron case was detected across Tamil Nadu on Monday, the bulletin said.