CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday announced that there would be relaxations for certain activities and services in rural areas and non-containment zones across the State. This comes after the Chief Minister on Monday categorically announced that there would be no relaxations in the restrictions till the end of the lockdown period.
As per the GO issued by Chief Secretary K. Shanmugam, construction activities in rural areas and MGNREGA work would be allowed. Even State/Central Government offices for the maintenance of essential services could function with attendance not exceeding 33% of the total staff, the GO stated.
However, it was explicitly mentioned that before allowing these select additional activities, the district administration would have to ensure that all standard operating procedures (SOPs) for physical distancing were followed in the offices, workplaces, factories and establishments and that other sectoral requirements were also in place.
This comes as Tamil Nadu reported two more deaths and 54 fresh cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, a government media bulletin confirmed. Among the cases reported, four children under the age of 10 tested positive for the infection.
This brings the total tally of cases in the State to 1683 with 20 deaths. The number of active cases in the State stood at 908 as opposed to 946 on Wednesday. As many as 90 patients were discharged on Thursday leading to the number of total recoveries in the State being 752.
Chennai continues to be the worst affected district with 400 cases, followed by 134 cases in Coimbatore. On Thursday, the highest number of cases were reported in Chennai which had 27 people testing positive.
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