Omicron scare: Tamil Nadu govt announces 10 pm to 5 am night curfew starting tomorrow, full lockdown on Sundays

In the wake of rising Covid-19 cases and Omicron cases in the state and all over India, the Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday announced that it will impose fresh restrictions including a night curfew from 10 pm to 5 am, full lockdown on Sundays, ban on places of worship on weekends including Friday starting January 6.

"Night lockdown to be put in place from Jan 6, 10 pm-5 am, & full lockdown on Sunday, Jan 9 with restaurants to operate for takeaways from 7 am-10 pm. Only online classes to be allowed for classes 1 to 9, & physical classes for classes 10, 12," Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin said.

Under the new guidelines for schools, the state government said that there will be no classes for LKG and UKG, while only online classes will be held for classes 1 to 9. Physical classes will be allowed for Class 10, Class 11 and Class 12, because of the upcoming board examinations and to ensure that they get vaccinated.

The government also said that the mega vaccination camps that were being held on Sundays will not be held on Saturdays.

During the night and weekend curfew, all shops, hotels and other establishments will not be permitted to function. Essential services, including private and bus services, milk and newspaper delivery, hospitals, ATMs, petrol and diesel pumps etc will be allowed to function.

Moreover, public buses, metro and local trains will run on 50 per cent of the seating capacity. It was also said that all Pongal festivities and cultural fests in colleges, rallies and religious gatherings will not be allowed.

"No permission for Pongal related functions/gatherings. Public transport including bus, suburban trains and Metro to run at 50% seating. No permission to devotees in places of worship on Friday, Saturday and Sundays," the CM said.

The decision was taken after a high-level meeting chaired by chief minister MK Stalin with state health minister Ma Subramanian and other senior health officials.

The state reported 2,731 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday – a 58% jump from the 1,728 it logged on Monday. Hotspot Chennai recorded 1,489 new cases compared to 876 on Monday.