CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday extended the lockdown in the state till January 31 with several relaxations.
Complete relaxation of time restrictions for places of worship, continued permission for political and religious gatherings with a maximum of 200 participants and permission for film shooting with any number of persons by maintaining physical distancing are the important aspects of the next phase of the lockdown till January 31.
Also, beaches will be closed on Kaanum Pongal day (January 16) to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The Chief Minister, in a statement here, said the lockdown was being extended based on the views expressed by the health experts committee, district collectors and senior ministers besides the prevailing situation across the state.
The Chief Minister said due to effective steps taken by the state government to contain the infection, the positivity rate has been brought below 1.7 percent during the past one month. Also, during the past 10 days, new positive cases remained below 1,100. Further, the number of persons under treatment for COVID-19 has come down from around 50,000 to 8,867.
The Chief Minister also reiterated his appeal to the public to wear masks when they step out of their residences and at their working places besides maintaining physical distancing in public places to
contain the infection completely.
In addition to the relaxations already given, the following relaxations are allowed in all areas except in containment zones from January 1:
Time restrictions for public worship in all places of worship are relaxed completely. But people have to adhere to the Standard Operating Procedures while visiting places of worship.
Restrictions for the number of workers engaged for shooting for films and the small screen are relaxed from January 1
Social, political, entertainment, sports, cultural, educational and religious gatherings will continue to be allowed with a maximum of 50 percent of the hall capacity or with a ceiling of 200 persons in closed spaces. For these meetings, prior permission from Collectors in all districts and the Commissioner of Chennai Corporation has to be obtained.
E-registration system will continue for those coming from other states (except Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka) to Tamil Nadu to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 variant. Also, the restrictions on international flight services will continue except for the routes allowed already by the Centre.
Considering the fact that a large number of people would gather on beaches on Kaanum Pongal (January 16), the public would not be allowed to gather at the Marina and other beaches across the state on the day to prevent the spread of COVID-19.