With Tamil Nadu witnessing a sharp increase in the COVID-19 cases, the government on Saturday announced a two-week 'total lockdown' across the state to curb the spread of the pandemic.

Chief Minister MK Stalin said in a statement that the lockdown was being enforced due to 'unavoidable reasons' and pointed out that the decision was taken based on inputs received at a review meeting he had with district collectors on Friday, besides consultations with medical experts.

"The total lockdown will be enforced from 4 am on 10 May to 4 am on 24 May," he said.

During the lockdown, all shops and commercial establishments including malls and big format stores selling anything other than groceries, vegetables, meat and foods products will remain shut, News18 reported. Food delivery services such as Swiggy and Zomato can pick up orders between 6-10 a.m. during the day, for three hours after noon and between 6-9 p.m. through the day. Restaurants and eateries and tea shops will be completely shut for visitors.

Government offices, other than important ones such as those inside the Secretariat, will also remain closed.

School colleges and other educational institutions, places of worship, parks, recreation clubs, zoological parks and sport academies are to remain shut.

Tamil Nadu saw 26,465 new coronavirus cases on Friday, pushing the caseload to 13.23 lakh while a record 197 deaths in the last 24 hours took the toll to 15,171. According to the health department, the active cases stood at 1,35,355.

With inputs from PTI



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