As Tamil Nadu nears to enter the fresh phase of restrictions from April 10, the state government has on Friday issued a fresh warning for the people, which had stirred the speculations about the possible implementation of the lockdown in the state to contain the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The development of pronouncing a new warning has come a day after the government announced a fresh set of restrictions, which will begin playing its role from April 10 to April 30. While the restrictions are all set to fall in place, the government has on Friday issued a fresh warning that the state would be imposed with a nigh curfew, which is the measure that several states have already imposed to curb the spread. 

According to reports, the Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu issued a statement on Friday in which he warned that a night curfew will be imposed in the state if the restrictions fail to show the signs of mitigation of the spread. As the second wave has been spelled to be severe than the first one, the state government has been deploying the measures to contain the spread amid a steady surge in the number of fresh cases. 

The statement from the Chief Secretary had further appealed to the people to extend their cooperation to the government in containing the second wave. The government has asked the people to adhere to the COVID-19 guidelines and follow the government's orders. The reports say that the states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Punjab have imposed a night curfew to address the spread and these night curfews would normally in place from 10 pm to 6 am during which essential and emergency movements will only be permitted. 

The state of Tamil Nadu had already been through multiple episodes of lockdown and curfew to break the chain of transmission of the virus in the state. The state was under lockdown for over seven months and relaxations were poured in the state from November 2020. The state had witnessed a steady decline in cases till the fourth week of February 2021 and from March, the cases began to rise when the state had seen heated election campaigns. As COVID-19 has resurged back, the state is getting back to the restrictions. 

The state government has on Thursday unveiled a fresh set of restrictions including permitting the theaters and malls to operate at 50% capacity. It has now warned that a night curfew would be imposed in the state if the restrictions fail to act, which had sparked speculations about whether the state would be implemented with a complete lockdown again. However, the government has asserted that it has no plan of imposing another lockdown. 

On Thursday, the state has witnessed over 4,000 cases for the first time in 2021. The state has reported 4,276 fresh cases on Thursday, 1,869 discharges, and 19 deaths. According to the state health department, Tamil Nadu has reported 9,15,386 COVID-19 cases so far as of Thursday of which 30,131 are active, 8,72,415 have been discharged, and 12, 840 had succumbed to the viral infection.