Tamil Nadu govt extends Covid-19 lockdown till October 31 with more relaxations

Amid the spike in COVID-19 cases in the state, the Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday announced that it will extend the lockdown in the state till October 31 with further relaxations. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami assured further relaxations in the next phase of the lockdown in the month of October. The government has also announced that the essential items and the relaxations will remain under the state's unlock guidelines. Also Read | Health Ministry suggests COVID plan ahead of festive season As per the report, the new guidelines will include permission for the hotels to function from 6 am to 9 pm. Likewise, the parcel services will also be allowed until 10 pm. Meanwhile, film shootings are likely to resume with a limit of 100 people at a time. The flight services at Chennai airport are likely to be increased from 50 to 100 from the first of October. However, the ban on suburban electric train traffic will continue to remain in force. It may be recalled that the circular of the School Education department allowing students of Classes 10, 11 and 12 to go to schools on a voluntary basis to take guidance from teachers has been put on hold. Also Read | Shocking! 19-year-old Dalit girl gang-raped in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras, dies The theatres, amusement parks, swimming pools, beaches, and other social gatherings will continue to remain closed. Tamil Nadu on Monday reported 5,589 new cases of COVID-19, taking the total number of coronavirus cases to 5,86,397, while the death toll has increased to 9,383 with 70 new deaths. The active cases in the state stand at 46,306 with 5,554 COVID patients being discharged from various hospitals and cumulatively 5,30,708 people have got recovered, the bulletin said. -PTC News