The entire State of Tamil Nadu is being shut down from Tuesday evening till March 31 in view of the COVID-19 coronavirus attack. By Monday evening, the number of persons admitted to hospitals in the State rose to 9.
“Those tested positive were persons who came to Tamil Nadu from outside the State. But there are hundreds of people who have been quarantined in the State and we are expecting the results of their tests,” said Dr Vijaya Baskar, Tamil Nadu Minister of Health and Family Welfare.
The decision taken by the Government to bring the entire State under shut down was announced by Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy in the Assembly on Monday. Though the Chief Minister was present in the House, he took out time to preside over the high level meeting which was attended among others by top government officials including the chief secretary.
Barring shops that sell essential commodities like milk, meat, groceries and pharma products, all business establishments will down their shutters till March 31. “All construction works throughout the State would remain suspended till then. But the State has made arrangements to take care of the needs of workers who would be affected by the shut down,” said the chief minister.
The chief minister further stated that all district borders across the State would be sealed. “District collector and superintendents of police have been authorised to issue orders under Section 144. Public or private transport buses would not be operated. All eateries have been told to suspend services till March 31 though they could sell packed foods,” he said. The general public in the State would be serviced by Amma Restaurants that sell subsidized idlis, pooris, Pongal, curd rice and lemon rice.
All government offices except district collectortates, police stations, fire and rescue services are being shut down from Tuesday evening. Private companies which are into the production of goods meant for esports would be allowed to operate with minimum staff. Employees of private firms including IT, telecom and other technological sectors are to work from home while private medical facilities can continue to operate.
The chief minister told the assembly that the government has set apart an additional amount of Rs500 crore for preventive measures against Corona virus. Palaniswamy said the hospitals in the State are fully equipped to meet any emergency arising out of the COVID-19 attack.