The state government of Tamil Nadu has been speeding up and strengthening the measures to contain and combat the spread of the Coronavirus within its territory and as part of that, Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami has, on Monday, announced that the government has implemented the statewide curfew under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to restrict the movements across the state and to curb the risk of being victimized by the virus, which has been labeled as a global pandemic.

The Chief Minister stated that the curfew would be coming into effect from 6 pm on Tuesday and will be in place till March 31st, 2020 as the state grips up its partial lockdown to the fullest form that has been imposed in its territory. According to the reports, the state government has also ordered to close all the district borders at the same time when the embargo comes into effect on Tuesday. Earlier, the Tamil Nadu government has shut down its borders with nearby states Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Karnataka and now it has shut down the borders of the districts within the state. 

The unprecedented border closure would barricade and limit the transports and movements of the people to lower and contain the spread as the state has already been reported with nine positive cases for the pandemic. Tamil Nadu has become one of the affected Indian states to roll out statewide curfew as the country has been going through an ordeal causing by the micro menace. Earlier, Rajasthan has imposed such restrictions to contain the virus.

The curfew restricts and prohibits the unlawful assembly of five or more people at the same place, it bans holding the public meetings and gatherings as such events have the possibility to spread the pandemic. However, by strengthening the measures, the Chief Minister asserted that the curfew won't affect the essential services and these services can function as usual across the state. Essential stores like pharmacies, grocery stores, and services like supply of dairy products, meat, ration shops, and hospitals would be functioning normally along with the government established 'Amma Unavagam', and hotels that offer parcel services.

Apart from these establishments, rest would be closed across the state till March 31st and the curfew is not applicable for some of the important government departments while the essential service providers would continue their works. The reports stated that the government and private bus transports, taxi and auto services would be banned across the state and the borders have been closed arresting the movements of the vehicles. The Chief Minister further asked the employees of IT and private companies to work from home until the curfew stays in effect.

The order of the implementation of section 144 across the state has come one day after the state observed nationwide 'Janata curfew' along with the rest of the states to practice social distancing with the view of containing the spread. The Indian government has already mapped 75 districts across the country including Chennai, Kanchipuram, and Erode to bring these districts under self-isolation. This embargo would self-isolate all the districts in the state by closing the borders, by limiting the movements, and by restricting the gatherings towards shielding the state from the Coronavirus, which has become a global threat by causing major damages and claiming thousands of lives globally.