Chennai: Supermarkets, vegetable and fruit markets will remain open in Tamil Nadu even as a few places witnessed panic buying on Wednesday and Thursday in wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
Restaurants will also remain open for now, except on March 22 in view of the ‘Janata Curfew’ announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi wherein citizens have been urged to stay at home from 7am to 9pm.
Malls, theatres and parks across the state have remained shut since March 18. Large shopping establishments and the famous commercial area -- Ranganathan Street -- in T Nagar have been ordered by the Greater Chennai Corporation to shut shop to prevent mass gatherings.
All the famous temples across the state, including Madurai Meenakshi Amman Kovil, have been shut from Friday to contain the spread of the virus.
The Chennai Police has ordered closure of bars in five-starred hotels till month-end. All other bars around the city are also, except state-run TASMAC outlets.
The Chennai Metro Rail has changed the frequency of its services and trains are running at every seven minutes interval instead of five minutes during peak hours. The arrangement will continue till March 31.
The All Tamil Nadu Omni Bus Association said it is bringing to the number of inter- and intra-state services. However, the government has urged the association to ensure that citizens are not affected. The association said bus owners are taking extra effort to sanitise their vehicles after every trip.
Schools and colleges have also been shut and all examinations have been postponed.
As far as working from home is concerned to contain the spread the virus, most companies, like L&T, in the city are yet to switch to the mode.
The textile hub of Tirupur district is seeing fewer work orders this week and some factories are planning to halt production starting Monday in the view of the coronavirus outbreak.
Raja Shanmugam, a textile factory owner, told News18, “Those who placed bulk orders have sought for cancellation or have asked us to stop production for some time. This happened in the beginning of the week. Many workers we have in the district are from north India. We won’t be sending them back as that is a risky proposition. Saturday is the weekly salary day for employees in this district. A few of the textile factories will stop production after that.”
Weavers in Kanchipuram district will continue their work for now.
The Assembly session is also underway and government staff have been asked to do regular shifts.
According to data, of the 333 samples tested in the state, three have tested positive (one of them was discharged this week), 303 were tested negative, while reports of 27 samples are yet to be received.
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