With the number of people testing positive for Covid-19 increasing rapidly, the Tamil Nadu government on Friday said it would be forced to go for “night curfew” if the new restrictions that come into force on Saturday do not yield desired results in containing the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Daily bulletin issued by the Health Department said 4,456 persons tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday, taking the total number of active cases to 10,000.
As the dust over assembly elections settled, the Tamil Nadu government on Thursday imposed a slew of restrictions like limiting the seating at theatres and restaurants to 50 per cent of their total capacity to control the spread of the virus.
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In a statement issued on Friday on behalf of Chief Secretary Rajeev Ranjan, the government said fever camps are being organised across the state to identify people with symptoms and take them to the nearest health care facilities.
Contending that over 2 crore RT-PCR tests have been conducted so far, the government said awareness is being created among people over appropriate Covid-19 behaviour like wearing a face mask, and maintaining social distancing in public places.
The government's ban on the conduct of religious and cultural festivals and restrictions to be imposed in malls and restaurants kick in on Saturday. “If these restrictions do not yield results, we will have to go for night curfew,” the statement said.