E-Paper
Tamil Nadu announces night curfew, lockdowns on Sundays starting April 20 to curb Covid-19 spread
During night curfew hours public buses, rental auto, taxi, and private vehicles will not be allowed to operate, and on Sundays, the state will be under lockdown with only essential services allowed.
Tamil Nadu on Sunday imposed a state-wide night curfew between the hours of 10 pm and 4 am starting from April 20. The state will also be observing Sunday lockdowns during this period.
During night curfew hours public buses, rental auto, taxi, and private vehicles will not be allowed to operate. Restaurants would be permitted to operate only for take-away services at three scheduled time slots throughout the day from 6am to 10 am in the mornings, between 12pm to 3pm in the afternoon, and from 6pm to 9 pm in the evenings. Food delivery services like Swiggy and Zomato have permission to operate during the fixed hours.
Employees who work in night shifts, like guards, will be allowed to travel only if they have a letter of permission from their respective companies. Factories producing essential goods can also stay open during night curfew hours.
On Sundays, the state will be under lockdown with only essential services like those dealing with daily newspaper distribution, milk supply, pharmacies, medical laboratories, ambulances, agriculture, vehicles transporting LPG, CNG, petrol, and diesel allowed to function.
The state government has also taken the decision to postpone class 12 state board exams in view of the recent surge in Covid-19 cases.
As India reports a record number of daily Covid-19 cases, states all over the country have been trying to bring the second wave under control by imposing night curfews and weekend lockdowns.
Tamil Nadu had on Saturday reported 9,344 new Covid-19 cases taking the state’s caseload to 9,80,728. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader MK Stalin wrote to the Prime Minister on Sunday urging for 20 lakh vaccine doses as the second wave of Covid-19 rages on in the state. Citing ‘news sources’ Stalin also alleged in his letter that there was a huge shortage of vaccines in the state and many people are unable to get inoculated when they visit government run vaccination centers.
