Chennai: Tamilnadu has allowed public transport to Kerala even as it extended the existing Covid restrictions in the state till 15 December.
The government said the Union Home Ministry had extended the lockdown till 31 December. Based on this and the monsoon in the State, the lockdown was being extended till 15 December, the government said.
Amid growing concerns regarding the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, the Tamilnadu government announced that it has extended existing restrictions and relaxations in the state till 15 December.
Meanwhile, the government said that no case of the latest variant of coronavirus, Omicron, has been detected in the state so far. The government insisted that surveillance has been stepped up across the airports to prevent its spread.
Chief Secretary V Irai Anbu held a review meeting with District Collectors and other top officials and urged them to ensure all precautionary measures to prevent the spread of Omicron, declared as a Variant of Concern by the
World Health Organisation.
The government said the ‘test-track-treat-vaccinate’ approach and Covid-19 guidelines would be strictly enforced. Only essential activities would be allowed in containment zones, the government said.
On Tuesday, Health department Principal Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan took part in a review meeting chaired by Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and explained about the measures taken by the government to enhance surveillance in Tamilnadu following the emergence of new virus variant Omicron in South Africa.
Talking to reporters, Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma Subramanian said Tamilnadu ranked top in the number of RTPCR samples testing and added that currently one lakh RTPCR samples were tested on a
daily basis in the laboratories.