The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday extended the coronavirus lockdown in the state till October 31. This decision comes amid the Central government is preparing to roll out Unlock 5 guidelines which will come into effect from October 1.
However, while making his announcements, Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami assured relaxations in the next phase of the lockdown and also took an important decision regarding school students.
According to a report in Zee News, Palaniswami held a virtual meeting with the district collectors and senior officials and said that restrictions would continue to remain in the containment zones. The CM announced that section 144 will also continue to be in force.
He said educational institutions, amusement parks, entertainment centres, museums, and gatherings for religious, cultural, social events will continue to remain closed, and suburban train service will remain suspended. However, the number of domestic flights to arrive at the Chennai airport will be doubled to one hundred per day.
The state government has put on hold its earlier order permitting students from class X to XII to voluntarily seek their teachers' guidance from October 1 by going to schools.
"Based on the inputs given in the meeting with collectors and by the medical team, considering the present spread of the pandemic and the safety of the students, the GO enabling students to voluntarily seek teachers' guidance is being put on hold," Chief Minister K Palaniswami said.
Though several schools had asked the parents to comply with the government order, many refused, indicating a threat from COVID-19 to their children.
On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu reported 5,546 new Covid-19 cases and 70 fatalities, taking the total infections in the state to 5,91,943, including 9,453 deaths.
