Covid-19: Tamil Nadu to be under lockdown from Tuesday evening, Section 144 to be in force

TNN | Mar 23, 2020, 03.55 PM IST

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu will be under lockdown from 6pm on Tuesday till March 31 to prevent spread of Covid-19, and Section 144 of the CrPc will be in force to prevent people from gathering in any place, chief minister Edappadi K Palanisami announced in the assembly on Monday.

“Following the Centre recommending steps to ward off Covid-19, the state government has decided to lockdown all districts from 6pm on Tuesday. People must follow social distancing to prevent the virus from spreading,” said the chief minister.

He said though the Centre had recommended lockdown only in Chennai, Kancheepuram and Erode districts, the government decided to lockdown all the districts.

“From 6pm Tuesday, all district borders will be closed till March 31. A detailed order on this will be released in the evening. All district collectors and police officials have been asked to implement the order under Section 144 of the CrPC,” the chief minister said.

Only essential vehicles would be allowed and all other vehicles like government buses, private buses, any other private vehicles, autos, taxis and others would not be allowed to go from one district to another.

“Essential commodities like milk, vegetables, groceries, fish and meat shops will remain open along with medical stores. All other shops, malls and others will remain closed till March 31. Similarly, essential government services and departments will work, and all other departments will remain closed,” said the chief minister.

The essential departments include police, health, district administration, fire services, prison and local bodies.

“All private company employees will have to work from home. These companies include IT companies. But private hospitals will continue to work. Essential commodity manufacturing companies will be allowed to work with less number of workers,” said the chief minister.

Except urgent construction, all other construction work will have to be stopped and the companies must pay the employees for the days when there was no work, he said.

“To help homeless and other workers who don’t have any roof above their heads, hotels will be allowed to function. Amma canteens will also work,” he said.

Those who come from abroad must quarantine themselves. They must compulsorily screen themselves either in government hospitals or in private hospitals and take proper medicines, Palaniswami said.

Steps would be taken by district collectors to help pregnant women and senior citizens during the lockdown. “We are thinking about helping families which have been affected due to the lockdown and order will be released separately,” said Palanisami.

The chief minister sought the public support to prevent the spread of coronavirus.