Chennai: The temple city of Madurai and nearby Paravai town panchayat and villages in Madurai East, Madurai West and Thiruparankundram blocks have gone under complete lockdown from early morning. This will be in force till 1 July morning to bring down Covid-19 cases.
Meanwhile, the Theni district administration has announced a full lockdown in all its Municipalities from today evening (6 pm). With Periyakulam already becoming a containment zone, areas like Bodinaickanur, Theni, Chinnamanur, Cumbum and Gudalur would also go into lockdown from today.
During the complete lockdown period in Madurai, which has become the most affected place in the state after north Tamilnadu, the district administration will carry out effective contact tracing and focussed testing to control the spread of the virus.
According to officials, a host of restrictions will be imposed to restrict the mobility of residents. The public should avoid travelling in vehicles to buy essential commodities and should only make their purchases from shops within 1.5km of their residences.
According to the official statement, ‘Complete lockdown in the jurisdiction of Madurai Corporation limits, Paravai Town Panchayat and rural blocks of Madurai East, Madurai west and Thiruparankundram from 23.06.2020 to 30.06.2020.’
According to official sources, shops selling essential items will be open from 6 am to 2 pm. People allowed to buy essential items within a km radius from their radius. However, on 28 June, Sunday, there will be complete lockdown in the district.
With Covid-19 cases rising by almost 39 per cent in the last week, the Madurai district administration on Sunday said that a total of 238 streets in Madurai Corporation will be regarded as âcontainment zonesâ henceforth.
Already, the Tamilnadu government has clamped complete lockdown in view of a continuing surge in virus cases in Chennai and in nearby districts of Thiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpet.