COVID: Tamil Nadu under stringent curbs till May 20

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government's new set of Covid-19 restrictions have come into force from 4 a.m. on Thursday, which will continue till May 20.

It is expected that the new enforcements in force will slow down the heavy traffic on the roads of Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Trichy and other towns, and help contain the virus.

All state government offices will function with 50 per cent staff strength for a fortnight, beginning Thursday said Tamil Nadu Chief secretary Rajeev Ranjan in an order.

The order also stated that the secretaries to governments, head of departments, district collectors, will have an attendance schedule of the workforce

The employees must be in shifts either on alternate days or once in three days as per the requirement of the workload.

Private offices will also have to function with a 50 per cent workforce.

Public transport, railways, metro rail, public and private buses will operate with only 50 per cent of their occupancy.

Only stand-alone grocery shops will be permitted to operate till 12 p.m.Shopping malls and other big shops have not been allowed to operate in the state since April 26.

Restaurants will permit only takeaways from 6-10 a.m., 12-3 p.m., and from 6-9 p.m.

Cinema halls will remain shut and all social, political and cultural gatherings are prohibited in open or closed spaces.

Tamil Nadu recorded 23,310 positive cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the state's tally to 12,72,602. Chennai alone reported 6291 positive cases, bringing the city's total to 3,64,081 cases.