Chennai
In a statement issued, CM Palaniswami said the complete lockdown imposed in Chennai, Thiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu from June 19 onwards and in Madurai from July 24 onwards will be extended till July 5.
The state government also said that there will be full scale shutdown without any relaxations on all Sundays across the state.
With easing of norms from July 6, the relaxations previously available for Chennai and Madurai, including extended business hours for outlets selling essentials, will come into force again and be in place till July 31.
The Tamil Nadu government's decision to extend lockdown comes despite the expert medical committee recommending against extending lockdown after June 30.
The panel held a review meeting with Chief Minister K Palaniswami during which Prabhdeep Kaur, Deputy Director, National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE), said the expert committee didn't recommend lockdown extension as it was not the only way to control the virus spread.
The panel also took into account the socio-economic issues of the lockdown while making its recommendation, Kaur said. The panel has suggested tightening of restrictions in the areas where the infection rate was high.
Since the past five days, the state has been recording 3,500-plus Covid-19 cases daily, taking its tally to 86,224 and there has been 1,141 deaths till date.
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