Chennai: A day after huge crowds thronged beaches and public places on Sunday, Tamilnadu government Monday night announced closure of beaches on Sundays for the public besides extending the ban on places of worship on weekends and also in holding religious festivals due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister M K Stalin at the Secretariat, which would be in effect till 6 am of 15 September, an official release said.
However, schools and colleges will be reopened on 1 September as planned earlier. Hostels for school and college students, working men, women’s hostels for the staff, will be allowed to function following necessary Covid-19 protocols. Staff at these hostels must be vaccinated and it is incumbent upon the school and college management to ensure that.
The government has also mandated that with the prevailing Covid-19 situation in Kerala, college students coming from the neighbouring State must be vaccinated and produce an RT-PCR test certificate.
The decision to ban entry of people to beaches on Sundays follows pictures of huge crowds which went viral in social media, with people not adhering to any Covid-19 protocols, posing a greater risk to virus spread. With the government deciding to ban religious festivals, Ganesh Chaturthi scheduled to be celebrated on 10 September is expected to be a low key affair, similar to last year.
“For the benefit of the public and to contain the spread of the virus, beaches will be closed on Sundays while the ban to visit places of worship on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays will continue. Holding of religious festivals also banned,” a statement issued by the government said.
The Chief Minister said the parents and teachers should realise that reopening of schools and colleges has been allowed considering the educational and psychological concerns of students.