Tamil Nadu govt extends lockdown till Oct 31; film shooting can resume with max 100 people

Ahead of the end of the Unlock 4 period, the Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday extended the lockdown in the state till October 31 while giving more relaxations. As per TN CM Edappadi Palaniswami, the containment zones will be the main area of focus in this phase of the lockdown. Moreover, the circular of the School Education department allowing students of class 9-12 to attend schools on a voluntary basis to seek guidance from teachers has been put on hold.

A decision on restarting schools will be taken after consultation with the medical committee. With 5546 new cases being reported in the day, the state's COVID-19 tally surged to 5,91,943. At present, there are 46,281 active cases in Tamil Nadu while 5,36,209 patients have been discharged and 9453 fatalities have been reported. 

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Prohibited activities:

• All educational institutions including schools
• Theatres, swimming pools, amusement parks, beaches, zoos, museums and tourist attractions
• All types of gatherings
• Suburban train services

Permitted activities: 

• All activities already allowed under the existing guidelines
• Dine-in services at restaurants till 9 pm
• Parcel services at restaurants till 10 pm
• Film shootings with a cap of 100 people
• Domestic flights landing at Chennai airport to be doubled to 100 flights per day

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COVID-19 crisis in India

Currently, there are 9,47,576 active cases in India while 51,01,397 patients have been discharged and 96,318 deaths have been reported. Unveiling the findings of the 2nd serosurvey conducted between August 17 and September 22, ICMR head Dr.Balram Bhargava revealed that one out of every 15 individuals aged 10 years and above are estimated to be exposed to COVID-19 by August 2020. Blood samples were collected from 29,082 individuals from the same 700 villages/wards from 70 districts from 21 states covered during the 1st survey.

It was observed that urban slum (15.6%) and non-slum (8.2%) areas had higher COVID-19 prevalence than that of rural areas (4.4%). The prevalence in adults stands at 7.1%. Furthermore, the seroprevalence is not different by age group and gender. Maintaining that a considerable percentage of the population is still vulnerable to COVID-19, he stressed adherence to the 5T strategy- Test, Track, Trace, Treat and Technology. 

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