Tamil Nadu extends lockdown till 31st March, authorities asked to strictly enforce norms

Tamil Nadu government on Sunday extended the COVID-19 lockdown till March 31 in the state, news agency ANI reported. "...the Government of Tamil Nadu hereby order to extend the State-wide lockdown till 24:00 hrs of 31.3.2021 under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 with various relaxations," the notification stated.

"The district administration shall take all necessary measures to promote #COVID19 appropriate behaviour and ensure the wearing of face masks, hand hygiene, and social distancing," the notification stated further.

Lockdown in Tamil Nadu extended till March 31; the district administration shall take all necessary measures to promote #COVID19 appropriate behaviour and ensure wearing of face masks, hand hygiene and social distancing pic.twitter.com/OF6uZ6UySM

— ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2021

Tamil Nadu recorded 479 fresh coronavirus cases and three more deaths, taking the overall caseload to 8.51 lakh and the toll to 12,496, the health department said on Sunday. Recoveries eclipsed new cases with 490 people being discharged, taking the cumulative number to 8,35,024, leaving 4,022 active cases in the state.

Chennai accounted for the maximum number of infections with 182, taking the total to 2,35,532 till date. The metropolis also accounted for a little over one-third of the COVID-19 fatalities at 4,153 deaths. All the three deceased were ailing with pre-existing comorbidity or chronic illness.

A total of 50,815 samples were tested on Sunday, taking the total specimens examined so far to 1.74 crore. As many as 24 districts have reported fresh infections in single digits while 34 districts reported 'zero' fatalities.

(With agency inputs)