The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday announced several new restrictions amid the second surge in coronavirus cases, including a ban on religious events and temple festivals, The New Indian Express reported. The curbs will come into effect from April 10.
Places of worship will be allowed to stay open till 8 pm. Shopping malls, provision stores and vegetable stalls must operate at 50% capacity and will be allowed to stay open till 11 pm. Restaurants, tea stalls, movie theatres, museums and entertainment parks must also adhere to the 50% limit.
At Chennai’s Koyambedu market, retail fruit and vegetable outlets will be closed.
Weddings can have 100 guests, while the limit for funerals is 50. Social, political, educational, entertainment, sporting and cultural events will be allowed at indoor venues with a limit of 200 people.
Meanwhile, buses operating within Tamil Nadu were directed to limit the number of passengers to the seating capacity and not let anyone stand.
The government said that cases in the state were rising because people were not observing Covid-appropriate behaviour. Tamil Nadu has so far reported 9,11,110 coronavirus cases and 12,821 deaths.
On Thursday, India recorded 1,26,789 new cases of coronavirus, in yet another record high count of infections reported in a single day since the pandemic began. The country’s overall count rose to 1,29,28,574 and the toll went up to 1,66,862, with new 685 deaths.
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