As announced by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami, the curfew under section 144 has come into the effect in the state making the partial shutdown to get its fullest form by restricting the movements of the people and ceasing the unnecessary travels across the state as the government has been enhancing the mechanisms to contain and curb the spread of the Coronavirus, which has been labeled as a global pandemic.

The Chief Minister has, on Monday, announced in the assembly that the government would be imposing section 144 across the state and the embargo would be coming to effect at 6 pm on Tuesday. The curfew, which has become an unprecedented lockdown for the state, has come to the picture and it would remain in place until March 31st, 2020. As the curfew took the job of containing the spread, the state government has closed all the district borders with the view of limiting the movements of the people and vehicles that would, in turn, lower the risk of getting victimized by the virus, which gets transmitted through humans.

With having no vaccine to cure the pandemic, the government has placed the state with intense restrictions aiming to constrain the people from mass gatherings and to maintain social distancing. This has been first of its kind curfew for the state in recent years and the curfew has the possibilities of creating an eerie emptiness as the busy cities and streets in the state would turn silent with fewer movements and shops. 

According to the reports, the government has ordered to close all the shops, malls, business complexes, TASMAC, theaters, parks, tourist spots, and all the holy places for the public. The government offices, public sector units, and autonomous institutions will be shut down. The government has ceased the channels of transportations and suspended all private and government bus services, metro rail services, call taxis and autos across the state till March 31st and the embargo has closed the interstate and district borders. Earlier, the Indian government has suspended all the passenger trains across the country.

The state government has postponed all the scheduled examinations for tenth grade, eleventh grade, and for government jobs. However, the Chief Minister asserted that all the essential services including pharmacies, grocery stores, the supply of meat and dairy products, and hospitals can function normally whereas the dining in the hotels has been barred, instead the hotels can carry on their delivery services. However, the government has banned the operations of online food delivery companies. Apart from these, all the private establishments had closed the shutters until the embargo plays its role.

The state government has appealed to the people to stay indoors and avoid unnecessary travels unless it becomes essential. The Chief Minister has asked the employees of the private and IT companies to work from home and asked the people not to gather unnecessarily as embargo bans the unlawful assembly under section 144. These intense restrictions have come amid the outbreak of the pandemic that gets intensified across the country. As of Tuesday, the state has reported 15 positive cases so far while India has recorded 517 cases and 10 deaths in its territory. Along with Tamil Nadu, various states including Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Jammu and Kashmir had rolled out similar restrictions to curb the spread of the virus, the global pandemic that has been causing major damages across the world and claimed more than thousands of lives globally.