Tough Covid restrictions for Tamil nadu from May 6
Amid a constant spike in COVID-19 cases, Tamil Nadu braces for tough restrictions from Thursday up till 4 am on May 20. The state on Monday recorded an all-time high in new COVID-19 infections adding 20,952 cases to the caseload of 12,28,064 while 122 deaths pushed the toll to 14,468 so far, the Health Department said. Meanwhile, recoveries continued to be high with as many as 18,016 people walking out of healthcare facilities aggregating 10,90,338 to date, leaving 1,23,258 active cases, a bulletin said.
Tamil Nadu COVID-19 restrictions: What is allowed/restricted
- Standalone grocery and vegetable shops will be allowed to function without air conditioners. They will function only till noon
- Beauty parlours and spas will not be allowed to function even in rural containment zones; these have already been banned from functioning at urban centres
- There will be no fish, chicken or meat selling on weekends; will be allowed from 6 am to noon on weekdays
- Weddings will be allowed with a maximum gathering of 20 people only
- Restaurants, mess and hotels are allowed to provide takeaways only
- Tea shops will be allowed to function till noon
- Essential services like milk and pharmacies will be permitted as usual
- All government and private offices will be allowed to function with 50 per cent of the workforce
- Government has already prohibited the functioning of big malls, shopping complexes and large format shops since April 26
- Passenger trains, metro trains and private and government taxis can ply with 50 per cent seating capacity
Meanwhile, with the increase in new infections, DMK chief MK Stalin, set to become the Chief Minister, has already held a meeting with Chief Secretary Rajeev Ranjan and Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan.
During the meeting, Stalindirected the officials to take up measures against the spread of the virus and meet all the needs of the infected people.
He directed the officials to also take steps to ensure that Remdesivir used to treat COVID-19 patients was available in other districts in line with the medicines being sold in retail in Chennai.
He advised them to step up the infrastructure like adding beds, oxygen support facilities and medicine without delay, a press release said.
