CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday extended the lockdown in Tamil Nadu for two more weeks till August 23.
The important restriction for the next two weeks will be the barring of public worship at religious places on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
An important relaxation is the reopening of schools from September 1 for Classes 9-12 with 50 percent attendance at a time.
The Chief Minister, in a statement here, said medical colleges and nurses training institutes can function from August 16. The Health Department will release detailed Standard Operating Procedures for this soon. The Chief Minister also said students of medical colleges, teachers and medical professionals have been vaccinated already.
The Chief Minister said the decision to open schools for Classes 9-12 has been taken considering the view of experts that closing of schools for many months had caused a huge depression among children. Further, most of the students did not have access to the online classes being conducted.