A day after the website for registration of stranded Tamil Nadu residents was opened, over 1.26 lakh Tamils currently in other states and countries have registered to come back to Tamil Nadu.
According to a report in The Hindu, over 1.18 lakh people who are stranded in Tamil Nadu have also registered on the portal as on Sunday morning, requesting the state government to take steps to help them get back to their home states.
Of the 1.26 lakh people, over 52,000 are Tamils living abroad. However, officials stated that the number of people wanting to return to their native states from Tamil Nadu is bound to reduce as industries resume operations.
Those who want to return to Tamil Nadu can register on the nonresidenttamil.org website, which also has options for those in the state to return to their native states outside Tamil Nadu. The website asks for details around COVID-19 testing and quarantining like “Have you been tested for COVID-19?”, “Have any of your family members/persons who stay with you been tested COVID-19?”, “On return to your house in Tamil Nadu after proper testing of COVID-19, do you have a separate room with toilet facilities for self-quarantine?”, and “If you are to be quarantined in the interest of your health and of your family members, what would be your choice?”
Tamil Nadu also extended the lockdown till May 17, in line with the central government’s decision. However, the state government has announced graded relaxation in terms of movement of people and resumption of commercial and industrial activities in areas other than containment zones across the state from Monday. In containment zones, no relaxations have been announced.
The state has been reporting a steady increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases in the past few days. It has also increased the number of samples tested, which breached the 10,000-per day mark on Saturday.