State imposes more curbs as cases swell
Sunday lockdown on Jan 16, curbs on commercial establishments, night curfew till Jan 31
CHENNAI: Hours before the curbs announced on New Year’s eve was set to end, Chief Minister MK Stalin announced their continuation and also brought in additional restrictions ahead of the Pongal festival later this week. This included not permitting devotees into places of worship from January 14 to 18 and extending night curfew till the end of the month.
Though devotees were barred only on Friday and the weekend till now, the restriction was extended by two more days – Thai Poosam falls on January 18 when they throng temples. According to the order issued on Monday, total shutdown would be imposed on Sunday (January 16), too.
However, considering the interest of the large number of people travelling to their native for Pongal, the State government has increased the occupancy in government buses to 75 per cent of the seating capacity from 50 per cent.
The existing restrictions such as 50 per cent occupancy cap on theatres, restaurants, conference halls, and shops and other commercial establishments would continue till January 31. Stalin also issued stern warning to commercial establishments to ensure that their staff and customers wore masks.
These decisions were taken by the Chief Minister after holding a detailed meeting with Ministers, senior officials and health experts on tightening the restrictions ahead of Pongal festival. Soures said most health experts suggested imposing tighter measures in view of the festival time to curb the rapid spread of the pandemic, adding that the discussions were mainly centered around Pongal and permitting Jallikattu.
The concerns have risen after the unrelenting rise of new COVID cases in the State, going from 1,155 on December 31 to 13,990 on Monday. There now are 62,767 active cases, a number that is rising at a rapid clip each passing day. Also, the overall test positivity rate has also grown to 10.34 per cent, with Chennai recording the highest of 17.4 per cent.