On Wednesday, the Tamil Nadu government announced a complete lockdown every Sunday in view of the surge in new COVID-19 infections and the proliferation of the highly transmissible omicron variant. The government has also announced a night curfew between 10pm and 5am, which will become effective from Thursday, January 6.

The Sunday lockdown, meanwhile, will begin from January 9 and the government has ordered all non-essential services to close shop. However, restaurants and food delivery services will be allowed to operate between 7am and 10pm, the government said.

The government has also imposed other restrictions beyond the curfew and the Sunday lockdown, and has ordered the closure of creches, play schools, and coaching centres to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Classes have been suspended for kindergarten, while classes 1 to 9 will have online classes. Only classes 10 and 12 will be allowed to have physical classes, the government said.

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Amusement parks have been ordered to remain closed on all days for the time being, and people will be allowed to take walks on beaches provided they strictly observe COVID-19 protocols. Meanwhile, public buses, metro, and local trains will be allowed to operate at 50 percent capacity.

The government has also ordered the closure of all places of worship from Friday, January 7, in a bid to prevent crowding, and all Pongal-related activities have also been called off.

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On top the aforementioned measures, reports have claimed that the government also plans to conduct mega vaccination camps every Saturday.

The new restrictions come amid a sharp surge in daily new COVID-19 cases in the state. On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu reported 2,371 new COVID-19 cases, including 121 cases linked to the omicron variant, a significant jump over Monday’s 1,728 cases. Daily new infections have been steadily growing over the last week, and the state’s tally of total cases has now crossed 27.55 lakhs, with over 36,000 deaths reported.