Night curfew and complete lockdown on Sundays will continue to be in force until further notice, the government of Tamil Nadu said on April 29. The state government had announced night curfew from 10 pm to 4 am and a total shutdown on Sundays in the third week of April.
As per a report in Times of India, the order issued by Chief Secretary Rajeev Ranjan on Thursday reiterated that the Sunday lockdown restrictions will not apply to party functionaries, candidates, chief agents, counting agents, and food suppliers on May 2, as the counting of votes is scheduled to be held on that day.
Other than this, the curfew and Sunday lockdown will be applicable to others. On April 18, the government of Tamil Nadu announced that all cinema theatres, gyms, malls, beauty parlours, salons, spas and big stores will be shut following an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the state. All tourist spots including beaches were also ordered to be closed to public entry. During the night curfew, private and public vehicles, including state transport corporation buses, are not allowed to ply. During Sundays, food delivery apps like Swiggy are permitted only at the specified timings. However, grocery and vegetable shops, meat shops, etc are not permitted to function on Sundays.
On Thursday, Tamil Nadu reported 17,897 new cases of COVID-19 with 107 deaths. The number of persons in the state currently being treated for COVID-19 stood at 1,12,556. The state also tested over 1.40 lakh samples on Thursday. Of the 17,897 new cases, Chennai accounted for 5,445 cases while Chengalpattu accounted for 1,164 new cases. Coimbatore reported 1,008 new cases while Tirunelveli reported 849 new COVID-19 cases. Thiruvallur, Madurai, Thoothukudi, Salem, Tiruchirappalli, etc also reported a high number of new COVID-19 cases.