Chennai: Ahead of the festival season, the Tamil Nadu government has further eased the lockdown restrictions in the state from Thursday. The state government has granted permission to reopen all kinds of places of worship in the states on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 


A statement from the Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) said that the decision to relax the lockdown restrictions was taken based on a meeting conducted by the Chief Minister MK Stalin with experts on Wednesday. The public were advised to ensure physical distance and wear face masks all the time at the public places and to avoid gathering at a large number in public places.


The public were also asked for utilising the vaccination camps that would be organised by local bodies, health department and district administration in the respective districts. 


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The statement said that the state government has allowed all the shops, eateries, and restaurants to function till 11 PM from Thursday and all the places of worship would remain open on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The government has also allowed tuition centres and private employment camps to function from Thursday. 


Further, the government had decided to resume weekly grievance meetings at Collector's office. Also, schools to reopen for kindergarten classes, and Anganwadi centres to be permitted from November 1. All the caretakers and cooks at the schools were directed to take Covid-19 vaccination before the schools reopen completely. 


According to the statement, now 100 people can attend marriages and related functions while 50 people are permitted to attend funerals and related events from November 1. Also, Private exhibitions would be allowed to organise and beaches would be opened for the public on Sundays. 


However, cultural and political gatherings would be banned, the statement added.