New Delhi:
The Tamil Nadu government has announced a two week lockdown from May 10 amid a surge in COVID-19 cases. The order was issued a day after the state recorded its biggest day spike of new Covid infections.
This is the first major decision announced by Chief Minister MK Stalin, who took oath on Friday.
The 26,465 new cases on Friday has pushed the caseload in the southern state to 13,23,965. Up to 197
virus-related deaths were also witnessed in the state during the period, taking the total number of fatalities to 15,171.
Chennai accounted for 6,738 new infections, totalling 3,77,042 till date. It also leads in the total number of fatalities at 5,081.
Cases in Tamil Nadu spiked during campaigning, as all major parties held rallies at which social distancing was absent, leading to sharp rebukes from the Madras High Court.
Tamil Nadu is among the 12 states that have over one lakh active COVID-19 cases each at present, according to the central government.