Chennai: As major cities in suburbs in Tamilnadu gear up for total lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus, certain services have been exempted from the curfew.
Essential services like hospitals, medical testing centres, pharmacies, ambulances, mortuary van services, besides functioning of key departments like Health and Family Welfare, Police, Revenue and Disaster Management, Electricity, Aavin, Local bodies and Metro Water would function as usual.
Apart from this 33 per cent of staff alone would be allowed to work in other Central government offices and banks for essential works, besides normal functioning of Amma Canteens and ATMs.
While restaurants would be allowed to function only for online bookings with delivery at the doorsteps, those serving the elderly, destitute and the differently-abled would be exempted from the lockdown, along with wholesale Koyambedu vegetable markets and mobile fruit shops.
However, none of the other shops would be allowed to function during the stringent lockdown period.
Apart from the above services, all other works were completely banned during this period and other government departments, including the Registration offices, would not function and IT companies could allow their employees to work from home, while other private companies would remain closed.