Holiday for Classes till V, no theatre in 16 TN dists

Mayilvaganan.V@timesgroup.com

Tamil Nadu on Sunday unveiled a raft of measures to contain the Covid-19 outbreak, including holiday for KG and primary schools, closure of theatres and malls, and shutting down tourist locations till March

31. Puducherry followed suit by declaring holiday for students till further orders.

A statement said the CM has directed the closure of all kindergarten (LKG and UKG) and primary schools (Class I to V) till March 31. “Theatres and malls in border taluks of Theni, Kanyakumari, Tirupur, Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Krishnagiri, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Tiruvallur, Tirupattur, Vellore, Ranipet, Erode, Dindigul, Dharmapuri and Virudhunagar districts shall remain shut till March 31,’’ the statement said. The CM has also advised people to refrain from travelling out of the state and avoid public gatherings for 15 days.

The state has also issued TN Covid-19 Regulations 2020 authorizing collectors to seal an area, bar entry/exit of population, close schools, ban vehicle movement, initiate surveillance of patients and designate buildings to isolate patients if there is a spread in geographical areas like villages, towns, city and wards.

No private laboratory should take or test samples for Covid-19, warns GO

Asking hospitals to report all suspected cases to health authorities, the GO has specified that people with symptoms should be forcefully admitted to hospitals if they refuse to cooperate. The GO warned that no privatelabshouldtake or test samples for Covid-19.

Adopting a multi-pronged approach aimed at tightening vigil at the borders, preventing the spread of the virus, improving health facilites and creating awareness on sanitation and hygiene, the CM announced a 60 crore fund for combating the virus in the state through various government departments.

EPS has also instructed authorities to intensify cleanliness drives in temples, mosques and churches where people gather in large numbers and directed district collectors to supervise the anti-virus measures.

Meanwhile, major engineering eductional institutions across the state including NIT, Trichy, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Vael’s university, SRM Institute of Science and Technology and VIT have taken a proactive step and have either suspended classes or have advanced summer holidays. IIT-Madras is yet to decide on the suspension of classes.

Following the CM’s order, district authorities across the state stepped up efforts to combat the virus. Coimbatore collector K Rajamani said10 cinema theatres in border taluks of Pollachi, Kinathukadavu and Anaimalai have been closed. Three prominent shopping malls in the city Brookefields Mall, Fun Republic Mall and Prozone Mall have announced that they are shutting down till March 31. In Krishnagiri, 22 theatres have been closed while other districts were also following suit.

Tourist places like Kovai Kutralam, Kodiveri dam and Bhavanisagar Dam too went out of bounds for the public to deter large gatherings. In Theni, besides theatres and shopping malls, popular picnic spots like Vaigai Dam Park, Kumabakkarai Falls, Megamalai, Chinnasuruli and Suruli Falls have all been shut down. Tourist places in Nilgiris, however, are not shut. The tourists are allowed after thorough screening and sanitization.

Cardamom estate workers in Theni district have been asked to stop going for work in the plantations. They were told that jobs would be given to them under MGNREGA.

Similar efforts were undertaken in Kanyakumari district which shares the border with Kerala and vigil has been tightened at check-posts to screen people entering the state with Covid-19 symptoms.

The government has assigned commissioner of revenue administration (CRA), J Radhakrishnan, to coordinate with all the departments engaged in preventive measures of the disease. District collectors have been instructed to send a daily report on measures taken by the respective administration to the CRA, who in turn, would submit a report to health minister and CM.