Chennai, May 6(BPNS)

The new Covid -19 containment restrictions enforced by the state government has come in force from 4 am on Thursday. The restrictions will continue till May 20. With the enforcement in force, heavy rush in the roads in Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Trichy and other towns have come down.

The state Chief secretary Rajeev Ranjan has in an order said that all state government offices will function with 50% staff strength for a fortnight beginning Thursday. The order said that the secretaries to governments, head of departments, district collectors, will have an attendance schedule of the workforce. The employees must be in shifts of either on alternate days or once in three days as per the requirement of the workload.

Private offices will also have to function with a 50% workforce.

Public transport, railways, metro rail, public and private buses will operate with only 50% of their occupancy. Grocery shops( Stand alone) will be permitted till 12 pm. These shops must be without air conditioners. Grocery and vegetable shops in shopping complexes are not allowed to function.

All other shops other than grocery and vegetable shops will be closed. Shopping malls and big shops are not allowed to function in the state since April 26.

State government and Public sector outlets will be allowed to function till 12pm and restaurants will not be allowed to take in sit in customers while takeaways will be permitted from 6 am to 10 am, 12 noon to 3 pm and from 6pm to 9pm.

Cinema theaters will remain shut and all social, political and cultural gatherings are prohibited in open or in closed spaces.

Mukundarajan an employee with a private company while speaking to BPNS said, “I think it is better to go for a lockdown rather than this. But the heavy financial losses is the reason for the government pulling back from the lockdown, it seems. Anyways people will have to cooperate on whatever measures the government adopt to contain the spread of the virus and thereby saving precious human life’s”.