COVID-19 spread was edging out of control in urban municipalities & it compelled the officials to intensify lockdown, CM Palaniswami said.
Chennai| From Sunday, Tamil Nadu has declared an extreme lockdown in 5 cities to break the chain of the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19, which has infected over 1,600 people in the state yet and least 20 have died, CM said this afternoon.
CM Palaniswami said, a 4-day intensive lockdown has been announced in Chennai, Madurai and Coimbatore from Sunday 6 AM, which will continue till 9 pm on Wednesday. In Tirupur and Salem, constraints will be increased for three days, starting at 6 am on Sunday till 9 pm on Tuesday.
Most novel coronavirus cases in Tamil Nadu – one of the states worst hit by the pandemic in the country – have been recorded from these 5 cities. While Chennai alone has 400 cases, Coimbatore has 134 and Tirupur has 110.
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Despite the lockdown in place, urban centres in the state have been seeing queues outside grocery shops and meat outlets in breach of social distancing norms. The government is looking at tightening the noose in these areas.
Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said the COVID-19 spread was edging out of control in urban municipalities and it compelled the authorities to intensify the restrictions, as per a government press release on Friday,
The government listed essential medical services such as hospitals and ambulances, and diagnostic centres that would continue to operate in these areas.
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