Tamil Nadu lockdown: The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday imposed a complete statewide lockdown from May 10 to May 24 amid an unprecedented rise in Covid-19 cases. This comes a day after the state recorded 26,465 fresh Covid-19 on Friday, pushing the active infections to 1.35 lakh. The 197 deaths reported on Friday took the cumulative toll to 15,171. Chief Minister M K Stalin said in a statement that the lockdown was being enforced due to “unavoidable reasons” and pointed out that the decision was taken based on inputs received at a review meeting he had with district collectors on Friday, besides consultations with medical experts. “The total lockdown will be enforced from 4 am on May 10 to 4 am on May 24,” he said. To help people procure necessities ahead of the shutdown, the Chief Minister said shops will remain open on Saturday and Sunday from 6 am to 9 pm. Listing the curbs, the government stated that state-run liquor store Tasmac will not operate during the lockdown period. Also, all shops, except those selling grocery, vegetables, meat and fish are banned from operations. Those allowed to open will only be operational from 6 am till noon. Only takeaways have been permitted in hotels and restaurants which will be allowed to operate from 6 am to 10 am, 12 pm to 3 pm and 6 pm to 9 pm. Food delivery aggregators can also operate during these hours. Hotels and lodges will not be open for public and will only serve business visitors and people coming into the state for medical reasons. E-commerce companies providing food, groceries, meat and provisions' services have been given the nod. Also, Amma canteens will continue to run during the shutdown. All recreation clubs, theatres, multiplexes, bars, auditoriums, amusement parks, meeting halls and beaches across the state will remain shut. Tourist spots like Nilgiris, Kodaikkanal and Yercaud will not be open for visitors as well. However, vaccination centres will be operating during the lockdown. Tamil Nadu is among the 12 states that have over one lakh active Covid-19 cases each at present. On Friday, after taking oath as the new Chief Minister of the state, MK Stalin had said that his government will bear the cost of Covid-19 treatment for patients who are admitted in private hospitals. He also ordered Covid-19 financial aid of Rs 4,000 to 2,07,67,000 rice cardholders across the state. “To implement the scheme, the Chief Minister has signed the order to provide the first instalment of Rs 2,000 in May itself at Rs 4,153.69 crore,” a government order said. (With inputs from PTI)
