Chennai lockdown: Tamil Nadu CM announces some relaxations from Monday – check details

Chennai, one of the hardest-hit cities in southern India, was placed under complete lockdown on June 19.

Chennai lockdown: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday announced that there would be some relaxation in lockdown in Chennai from Monday (July 6). From Monday, vegetable and grocery shops will be allowed to open from 6 am to 6 pm, textile and hardware shops from 10 am to 6 pm, and restaurants from 6 am to 9 pm in the capital city of Tamil Nadu.

Chennai, one of the hardest-hit cities in southern India, was placed under complete lockdown on June 19. On June 16, the state government announced that due to a sharp spike in Covid-19 cases, four districts — Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu — would be under intense lockdown starting June 19.

Chennai is the worst-hit city in Tamil Nadu with over 64,000 coronavirus cases and 993 fatalities. It has, however, recorded 40,111 recoveries but 23,585 cases are still active. Tamil Nadu is the second worst-affected state in India after Maharashtra. It has so far reported 1,02,721 cases and 1385 deaths due to Covid-19. The number of active cases is 42,958 while 58,378 people have recovered.

In the last fews days, the state has been reporting the highest number of cases. On Thursday (July 2), the state recorded the highest-single day spike of 4343 cases. On Friday, the number was 4329 – almost the same as the previous day.

The country is in the process of unlocking the services but it has also led to a significant rise in the number of infections in the last few weeks. India’s number of infections has already crossed 6.5-lakh mark and 18695 have already succumbed to coronavirus.