Vikrant Shekhawat : Mar 31, 2021, 08:13 PM
Chennai: Amid rapidly rising coronavirus cases, the Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday extended its restrictions under partial lockdown till April 30. Officials said that safety and preventive measures – wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing – will be intensified this time in order to curb the viral disease. International flights are also restricted except for permitted travel by the central government.The Centre addressed a press briefing last evening and said that the COVID-19 situation is turning from “bad to worse”. The Health Ministry said that it is a huge cause for worry, especially for some states, warning that the whole country is at risk and any complacency at this stage will have “heavy costs”.Poll-bound Tamil Nadu is among the eight states in India that have shown an upward trajectory of coronavirus cases. These states account for 84.73 per cent of the new cases reported in the country.A total of 2,342 people have tested positive in the last 24 hours while 16 people have died of the infection. Chennai recorded 874 coronavirus cases. With this, the active cases in the state stand at 14,846.About the surge in case positivity rates, Bhushan said Maharashtra last week had an average of 23 per cent, followed by Punjab 8.82 per cent, Chattisgarh 8.24 per cent, Madhya Pradesh 7.82 per cent, Tamil Nadu 2.5 per cent, Karnataka 2.45 per cent, Gujarat 2.22 per cent, and Delhi 2.04 per cent.