The Chennai Corporation has banned the distribution of food within 2-km radius of containment zones, Corporation hospitals, COVID-19 testing centres, government tertiary care hospitals and designated private hospitals as directed by the Madras High Court.
In an order late on Monday, Corporation Commissioner G. Prakash said that NGOs and other organisations would not be permitted to distribute food within 2-km radius of hotspots that include Corporation hospitals, testing centres and designated private hospitals.
The order was issued based on the directions of the High Court. The NGOs and associations, who want to distribute food to residents in the neighbourhoods located within 2-km distance of the hospitals, have been asked to hand over the food to the Corporation officials who will distribute the food after testing it.
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The zonal officers should be informed 48 hours before in other places and food should be distributed only after food safety department permits the venue. The preparation should be in the same zone and food distributed within a time frame.
However, the civic officials said that the order was to prevent NGOs and voluntary associations from directly distributing food to any resident because all residential areas in the city were located within 2-km distance of a Corporation hospital or COVID-19 testing facility.