As Chennai and its adjacent districts prepare to go under the ambit of the enhanced lockdown for 12 days from June 19 to June 30 as announced by the Tamil Nadu state government in the wake of the exponential rise of the COVID-19 cases, it becomes imperative to understand how the entry and exit would be for Chennai for the travelers in the tenure of the complete lockdown.

According to the order of the state government, the e-pass would be provided for those who are in the necessity to exit the city. The traveling outside of the city would be permitted by the government only for extremely emergency purposes including medical emergencies, weddings, and deaths. 

This will apply for the inter-state and inter-district travelers exiting the city. The restriction on travel has come with the view of regularizing the movement of people from Chennai to other regions, as the city has become the active and biggest hotspot for COVID-19 spread.

The travelers by road would be screened at the border before entering or exiting the city. For travelers who are entering the city and its adjacent districts of Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, and Thiruvallur by air or train, the government has said that the existing regulations would continue to be in place. The Chennai airport has issued a clarification that the operations of the airport will continue with the existing lockdown.

People, who are entering the state through air and train, are mandated to obtain e-pass from the government before they depart from their specified location. All the commuters who arrived through air and train would be tested for COVID-19 and they would be kept under the institutional quarantine until their results arrive. They would proceed further based on their results. If it turns out to be positive, they would be admitted to the hospital and the asymptomatic people would be advised to remain under home quarantine for 14 days.

However, people those who arrived from national epicenters like Delhi, Maharashtra, and Gujarat and global hotspots, they would strictly be taken under the institutional quarantine for seven days even if their samples returned negative. These clarifications and directives have come on Monday after the state government announced that it would impose complete lockdown in Chennai, days after denying that it has no plan of such implementation.

According to the state government, Chennai and the areas of Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, and Thiruvallur that fall under the Greater Chennai Police limits would go under the enhanced lockdown from June 19 to June 30. The lockdown would permit the functioning of the essential services. The grocery shops, vegetable shops, and petrol stations would be functioning from 6 am to 2 pm.

By permitting the movements of extremely essential services in these four districts, the government has arrested the unnecessary movements amid the fifth phase of the lockdown in which the government aimed to have a gradual exit from the restrictions. However, the relaxations had let the virus to travel in the lightning speed as Chennai has crossed the tally of 33,000 COVID-19 cases, which is about two-thirds of the total affected cases in the state.

To register for e-pass, please visit: https://tnepass.tnega.org/#/user/pass

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