Chennai's Koyembedu market closed after 300 COVID cases; TASMAC liquor shops to open

As Chennai's Koyembedu Market turns into a Coronavirus (COVID-19) hotspot, the Chennai metropolitan development authority (CMDA), on Monday has announced that the Koyembedu market has been effectively closed. The market has now been shift to Thirumazhisai and will begin to function from 7th May for wholesale alone. This decision has been taken following more than 300 cases reported from the Koyembedu market cluster. 

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Tamil Nadu reports highest spike

Earlier in the day, Tamil Nadu reported its highest single-day spike with 527 new cases and 30 people were discharged, with 1 fatality. In the last three days, the market has reported the highest number of cases and reportedly affected other areas outside Chennai like Ariyalur, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram. Reports state that Ariyalur has reported 40 cases, Chennai has 60 cases and Villupuram has nine cases - all connected with Koyembedu market - which has now been declared a containment zone.

The civic body has appealed to the public vendors and shop owners who had visited the Koyambedu market in the last few days to voluntarily get checked for the infection. Chennai tops the state's COVID-19 tally with more than 1500 cases. Tamil Nadu's taly stands at 3023 cases with 1379 recovered and 30 deaths.

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With the ease in restrictions, state government has also decided to open its TASMAC liquor shops outside containment zones from May 7, inspite of its rise in COVID-19 cases. According to Covid19India, Tamil Nadu has seen a drastic reduction in its rate of infection since April 1 - currently at 3.6%. Moreover, this has happened inspite of Tamil Nadu amping up its testing rate 7 times. There are a total of 50 functioning COVID -19 testing facilities in Tamil Nadu which includes 36 government and 14 private facilities.

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