Tamil Nadu: CM Stalin Announces Complete Lockdown In State On Sunday, Essential Services Allowed

Only essential services will be allowed to function during the lockdown hours, which will begin at 10 p.m. on Saturday and remain in place till 5 a.m. on Monday.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin (Image Source -Twitter)

New Delhi: Amid the surge in Covid-19 cases in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Friday announced complete lockdown for Sunday.

News agency ANI reported Stalin as announcing that there will be a complete lockdown all over the state on January 23.

Only essential services will be allowed to function during the lockdown hours, which will begin at 10 p.m. on Saturday and remain in place till 5 a.m. on Monday.

Besides, the restaurants and hotels can during the lockdown hours offer takeout services from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The autos and taxis are, however, allowed to the airport, bus stands and railways stations during the lockdown hours.

The move comes as Tamil Nadu had earlier on Thursday recorded 28,561 new Covid-19 cases and 39 deaths.

Tamil Nadu on Thursday added 28,561 new infections, taking the total number of Covid-19 cases in the state to 30,42,796.

According to the state health department, 39 more fatalities took the toll to 37,112.

The recoveries, according to a medical bulletin, climbed to 28,26,479 with 19,978 people getting discharged in the last 24 hours, leaving 1,79,205 active infections, PTI reported.

Tamil Nadu capital Chennai, which accounted for majority of the fresh cases, had recorded 8,007 cases on Thursday.

All districts of the state reported over 100 Covid-19 cases on Thursday. Tamil Nadu’s 35 districts reported an increase in fresh cases compared to their earlier tally.

Earlier in the day, the Union Health Ministry said that over 160 crore 43 lakh vaccine doses have been administered so far under the Nationwide Vaccination Drive.

The ministry said that 2,51,777 people recovered in the last 24 hours, increasing the total recoveries to 3,60,58,806. The recovery rate currently stands at 93.50%.

India’s active caseload currently stands at 20,18,825, while the active cases stand at 5.23%.

The ministry said 9,692 total Omicron cases have been detected so far, which an increase of 4.36% since Thursday.

The Health Ministry said that over 71 crore 15 lakh tests have been conducted so far, adding over 19,35,912 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours.