Tamil Nadu Lockdown: Govt announced lockdown restriction till December 15 amid Omicron fear

Tamil Nadu Lockdown: The Tamil Nadu Government on Tuesday announced the extension of existing lockdown restrictions in the State till December 15. The Government also allowed the operation of public transport between Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The Government said the Union Home Ministry had extended the lockdown till December 31. Based on this and the monsoon in the State, the lockdown was being extended till December 15, the Government said.

The Government said the “test-track-treat-vaccinate” approach and COVID-19 guidelines would be strictly enforced. Only essential activities would be allowed in containment zones, the Government said.

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The Centre on Tuesday issued extended the nation-wide COVID-19 containment measures till 31 December in view of the emergence of a highly mutant variant Omicron in some countries and asked the states to be vigilant.

Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla also asked states and UTs to strictly adhere to the 25 November advisory issued by the Union Health Ministry, recommending rigorous screening and testing of all international arrivals.

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Bhalla also said that the contacts of the international travellers must be closely tracked and tested as per the health ministry guidelines, and the samples of travellers turning positive sent to the designated Genome Sequencing Laboratories promptly, as per the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) Guidance Document.

He said the state surveillance officers must also establish close coordination with their designated or tagged genome sequencing laboratories for expediting results of genomic analysis, and the States and UTs should immediately undertake necessary public health measures, in case of the presence of variants of concern.

Accordingly, the home secretary directed that the existing “Prompt and Effective Containment Measures for COVID-19 ” must be continued till 31 December.