Tamil Nadu government rules out complete lockdown after Pongal

Health Minister Ma Subramanian said CM Stalin is against any move that would cripple the economy and cause difficulties to people

Tamil Nadu has no plans to impose a “complete lockdown” after the Pongal festivities as Chief Minister M K Stalin is against any move that would cripple the economy and would result in difficulties to the people, the Health Department said on Tuesday.

Health Minister Ma Subramanian said the restrictions that are in place currently are “sufficient enough” to tackle the spread of the Coronavirus provided people follow Covid appropriate behaviour like wearing face masks and ensuring physical distancing at public places. The minister also asked the unvaccinated to get their jabs immediately.

The state government has imposed a Sunday lockdown on January 16 for the second consecutive week and brought in fresh restrictions like closing temples during the Pongal holidays. Beaches across the state are already out of bounds for the people, while a night lockdown from 10 pm to 5 am have been extended till January 31.

Read | TN Covid curbs: Places of worship closed from Jan 13-18

“We have no plans to impose a complete lockdown. The Chief Minister is against any move that would cripple the economy or result in financial difficulties to the people. We feel the current restrictions are enough to bring the cases down,” Subramanian told reporters, responding to a query on whether the government was planning a lockdown after January 16.

He stressed people wearing masks and pointed to Stalin’s personal campaign in creating awareness among the people on the importance of having a mask on their faces. “The Chief Minister spent two hours last week distributing masks to people on the arterial Anna Salai. On Monday, he visited a few localities in the city and spoke of the importance of wearing masks,” the minister said.

Subramanian also said there was no need for a complete lockdown as long as people follow the rules. “The restrictions are enough. If people cooperate with us, there will be no need for tightening of restrictions,” he said.

Tamil Nadu has been reporting a huge number of cases every day in the past two weeks. From 1,489 fresh cases on January 1, the state reported 13,990 cases on January 10.

Watch latest videos by DH here: