Tamil Nadu imposes Sunday lockdown, night curfew, shuts tourist places amid COVID surge

Clocking 10,000+ COVID-19 cases on Sunday, Tamil Nadu govt imposed Sunday lockdown and night curfew across the state from 10 PM to 4 AM. During night curfew private/public buses, auto, taxi, and private cars will not be allowed to ply. The government has also postponed the 12th board exams as the state reported 10,723 cases taking the state tally to 9,91,451 and death toll to 13,113.

Tamil nadu COVID curbs

• During Sunday lockdown - parks, beaches, museums, meat shops, fish market, vegetable shops, Cinema theaters were closed. Parcel service & home delivery is allowed in restaurants from 6.00 am to 10.00 pm, from 12.00 noon to 3.00 pm and from 6.00 pm to 9.00 pm
• Only 50% employees allowed to work in IT firm offices, while the rest would be working from home.
• Tourism suspended in hill stations such as Nilgiris, Kodaikkanal, Yercaud.
• 12th board exams postponed
• Shopping malls, eateries, vegetable and fruit shops, textile and jewellery showrooms must restrict customers to 50% till 9 PM
• College, university exams & classes can be conducted online
• Theatres, restaurants to continue to function with 50 per cent capacity
• Weddings will have maximum on 100 people in attendance
• No new restrictions announced for inter-state travel

India's oxygen shortage

On Saturday,  Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired an emergency meeting to review the COVID situation and the immunization drive across the country which is currently underway. Top officials across various ministries attended the meeting to discuss the shortage of Remdesivir, oxygen, beds, ventilators, and vaccine doses across states. To meet rising demand,  Centre has sanctioned installation of 162 pressure swing adsorption (PSA) plants in public health facilities in all states to help hospitals become self-sufficient in their requirement for medical oxygen, while also reducing the burden on the national grid for its supply of medical oxygen.  Thirty-three of the 162 PSA plants have been installed -- five in Madhya Pradesh, four in Himachal Pradesh, three each in Chandigarh, Gujarat and Uttarakhand; two each in Bihar, Karnataka and Telangana; and one each in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Kerala, Maharashtra, Puducherry, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, it said. India, currently in the grips of a second COVID-19 wave, has 1801316 cases and 12809643 persons discharged, with 177150 fatalities.