The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday, January 8, said that people will be permitted to travel during the complete lockdown on Sunday to attend family functions including weddings by producing invitations. Police would extend their full cooperation to such travellers who display invitations to attend the family functions including marriages, an official release said.

Following a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases and the highly transmissible Omicron variant, the state government introduced night curfew from Thursday and announced complete lockdown on Sunday to contain the spread of the pandemic. The restrictions state that only 100 persons would be allowed at the marriage functions. The state government permitted restaurants to operate food delivery services during the Sunday lockdown, which restricted non-essential activities and gathering of people.

The Arignar Anna Zoological Park, Vandalur, a major tourist attraction in the city, will be closed for the public on Sunday. The zoo will reopen on January 11 to welcome the visitors by following SOP and due protocol in place, the zoo authorities said.

Meanwhile, the Monday public grievances meetings at the collectorates across the state and also the weekly farmers' grievances meeting have been deferred in a bid to curb the rising coronavirus cases, a release said.

In light of the COVID-19 situation in the state, the Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday, January 5, announced a slew of restrictions to be put in place across the state. A night curfew is in place between 10 pm and 5 am every day, and a complete lockdown on Sundays. As for schools, only online classes will be allowed for Classes 1-9, while physical classes will only be allowed for Classes 10, 11 and 12. All colleges, except medical and paramedical colleges, will be closed till January 20.

Read more about the COVID-19 restrictions in Tamil Nadu here: Tamil Nadu announces Sunday lockdown, night curfew: Details