Tamil Nadu To Reopen Schools, Colleges From Nov 16, Theatres From Nov 10

Classes 9 and above in schools along with colleges will be allowed to reopen from November 16 with COVID-19 safety norms, the Tamil Nadu government announced on Saturday.

Theatres can reopen a week before that with 50 per cent occupancy.

Zoos, amusement and entertainment parks and museums will also be allowed from November 10, the government said, relaxing the tough lockdown that has been in place since March.

Religious, community and cultural gatherings will be allowed from November 16 as well.

Gyms can allow people up to 60 year olds from Sunday against upto 50 year olds now. Weddings and funerals can have 100 guests.

The state government also increased the limit on crew members at a film or TV set from 100 to 150.

The safety rules to be followed include the use of face masks and hand sanitisers in public spaces, social distancing and thermal scans to check body temperature.

The new rules will not apply to containment zones, the government said.

Swimming pools, beaches and tourist places will continue to be out of bounds for people, it added.

Suburban trains will be allowed to resume as per the central government's decision.

Wholesale fruit sale at the Koyambedu vegetable market in Chennai will resume from Monday.

Retail fruit and vegetable sale at the market will resume in three phases from the 16th.

More than 3,500 people had contracted the coronavirus from this market in May, after which it was shut and reopened recently for wholesale vegetable and food grains.

Last month, the government had allowed rural weekly shandies or local markets and government training institutes to reopen.

Restaurants were permitted to run till 9 PM and takeaways till 10 PM.

Since last month, Tamil Nadu has slipped one spot in the national COVID-19 tally and has the fourth-highest number of cases.

The state on Friday reported 2,608 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 7.22 lakh while 38 more fatalities pushed the number of deaths to 11,091.