Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Wednesday announced that public and private transport services in various zones, each of which comprises a cluster of districts, will be suspended from June 25 to 30.
With effect from June 1, Tamil Nadu was divided into eight zones for the purpose of transport services. Free vehicular movement was being allowed in six of these zones. However, from Thursday till the end of the month, an e-pass will be mandatory for vehicle owners to be able to travel between districts within a zone.
Until now, free vehicular movement was permitted in zone I, comprising Coimbatore, the Nilgiris, Erode, Tiruppur, Karur, Salem and Namakkal. But from Thursday onwards, only intra-district movement will be allowed.
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Mr. Palaniswami made the announcement following a meeting with District Collectors on Wednesday. During the discussions, several Collectors said it was becoming difficult to undertake COVID-19 contact tracing of people entering their districts, and that they were unable to stop the arrivals.
Taking their views into consideration, the Chief Minister made the announcement that travel between districts within each zone would be banned till June 30. “If anyone owning a private vehicle wants to travel between districts, they can do so after obtaining an e-pass,” he said.
Public transportation will be allowed only within the districts during this period.
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At Wednesday’s meeting, a few Collectors raised the issue of a shortage of doctors and nurses in their districts. The Chief Minister assured them that adequate healthcare professionals will be provided to them.
The Collectors were directed to implement a "containment strategy" in places where COVID-19 cases were prevalent, and also ramp up testing. “Those who are coming in from other States and countries have to be tested for the virus. At the State border, police personnel should be extremely cautious and work to ensure that those coming in from other States are tested. If they are found COVID-19-positive, treatment should be provided to them,” the CM said.
He said that according to doctors, 80% of people with COVID-19 had no symptoms. “Wherever the virus has spread, every person in that area is being tested and provided with treatment,” the CM said, adding that health experts had stated that the spread of the disease will come down only after hitting a peak. “Based on that, we are conducting more tests and helping people recover. That is the way to stop the spread of the disease,” Mr. Palaniswami said.
He said people should compulsorily wear masks whenever they step out of their homes. “Please maintain physical distance when you go out,” he said, addressing the public.
Mr. Palaniswami also announced that the government will provide a financial aid of ₹1,000 to rice ration cardholders in Madurai, where a complete lockdown is in place.