The Tamil Nadu government has on Thursday announced that the state will go through the complete lockdown on Sunday - May 2, when the votes registered in the recently held assembly polls will be counted. The voters and the political parties are keenly awaiting to know who's the people's choice to rule the state for the next five years. The government has announced that the current state of lockdown and restrictions will be in place till May 31st, 2021. 

The current restrictions including night curfew will hit the deadline on April 30 and exactly ahead of the deadline, the government has now carried forward the restrictions to May in light of the exponential rise and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tamil Nadu had gone through the crucial single-phase assembly polls on April 6 and the votes will be counted on May 2nd during which the results will be declared on who will form the new government. 

While the parties had mulled to celebrate the election results, the government has now put the state into complete lockdown on May 2 as part of its 'Sunday lockdown measure'. The government has said that the restrictions will be in place till further orders issued and it has clarified that the candidates and the people who are attached to the election works and counting process won't fall under restrictions and they are advised to discharge their duties on the vote-counting day by adhering to the Covid protocols and guidelines. 

Earlier, the Tamil Nadu Election Commission has mandated that the candidates and the political party agents must produce an RT-PCR negative certificate to enter the vote counting centres or they should have received their two doses of the vaccine. The state electoral body has also ordered the political parties not to conduct the victory processions in the state after the vote counting. State Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo has said, "Not more than two persons will be allowed to accompany the winning candidate or his/her authorized representative to receive the certificate of election from the returning officer concerned". 

In the wake of the complete lockdown on Sunday, the state will see the functioning of the extremely essential services while the malls, theatres, and other recreation centres will be closed. The hotels and other forms of eateries will be functioning only to offer the parcel services. The hotels can function from 6 am to 10 am, 12 pm to 3 pm, and 6 pm to 9 pm. In the order, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Rajeev Ranjan said, "Night Curfew shall continue to be enforced throughout the state from 10.00 pm to 4.00 am."

He stated that during the night curfew, private/ public bus transport, auto, taxi, and private vehicles will not be permitted. The Chief Secretary said, "Complete lockdown shall be enforced throughout the state on all Sundays without any relaxations". "However, there shall be no restrictions for the movement/transport of officials/ party functionaries, candidates, Chief agent, counting agents, food suppliers in connection with counting of votes for the General Elections to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, 2021, and bye-election of Kanniyakumari Parliamentary Constituency on 02.05.2021 being the day of the counting of votes", the Chief Secretary added. 

He further said, "Fish markets, Fish stalls, Chicken stalls, and other meat stalls shall remain closed on Saturdays and action would be initiated against the violators". The government has also said that the fruits and vegetable retail outlets in the Koyambedu Market complex shall be prohibited and fruits and vegetable retail outlets in wholesale markets in all districts shall also remain prohibited. The Chennai Metro rail services shall be permitted to operate skeletal services during the complete lockdown on Sundays. 

The government has advised the district administrations to ensure to take all the necessary measures to promote COVID-19 appropriate behaviour and the administrations should strictly enforce wearing face masks, hand hygiene, and social distancing measures. The government has also appealed to the people eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccines and appealed to strictly adhere to the guidelines and protocols.  

On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu has reported 16,665 fresh COVID-19 cases which had become the state's highest single-day rise since the outbreak began. The state also has reported 15,114 discharges and 98 deaths on Wednesday. According to the state health department, Tamil Nadu has recorded 11,30,167 COVID-19 cases so far as of Wednesday of which 1,10,308 are active, 10,06,033 have been discharged, and 13,826 had succumbed to the viral infection. 

தமிழ்நாட்டில் மறு அறிவிப்பு வரும் வரை ஏற்கனவே உள்ள கட்டுப்பாடுகளுடன் ஊரடங்கு நீட்டிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.#Tamilnadu #lockdown pic.twitter.com/kWKL4jXJpo

— AIR News Chennai (@airnews_Chennai) April 29, 2021