Tamil Nadu govt extends Covid curbs till Jan 31, night curfew to continue

Amid surging COVID cases, the Tamil Nadu government on Monday extended the existing COVID restrictions till January 31, imposing fresh curbs restricting entry into religious places of worship from January 14 to 18, to contain the spread of Coronavirus.

Night curfew, which was imposed from January 6, will continue till this month-end and there will be complete lockdown on January 16 (Sunday), the government said.

Tamil Nadu today reported 13,990 fresh infections, while active cases soared to 62,767.

A decision to further extend the covid curbs that was extended on December 31, 2021, was made at a meeting of senior officials and medical experts chaired by Chief Minister M K Stalin here on Monday.

In view of the mid-January Pongal (harvest) festival, the government has allowed travel in state-run buses with 75 per cent occupancy to enable the people to reach their native districts. Further, worship in all religious places of worship has been disallowed from January 14 to 18 in a bid to prevent crowding.

Other restrictions pertaining to restaurants' take away service and theatres will continue till this month-end, the release said.

The government urged the people to get fully vaccinated against COVID-19 at the earliest and also asked the traders and business establishments to provide hand sanitiser and strictly follow the government COVID safety norms.