Colleges in Tamil Nadu closed from January 5-20 as COVID cases continue to rise 

Tamil Nadu announced the closure of all colleges in the state till January 20 as the Coronavirus cases continue to surge. The announcement comes after Health Minister Ma Subramaniam declared a complete lockdown on Sundays to curb the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian said that Chief Minister MK Stalin had decided to enhance the COVID-19 restrictions in view of the increasing cases. Five districts, including Chennai, accounted for the majority of new infections on January 4 as the state witnessed a surge with 2,731 fresh cases. The total since 2020 is 27,55,587, the health department said. Nine deaths were reported taking the toll to 36,805, a department bulletin said.

The government has also decided to close schools, however, more details are awaited regarding the duration of the closure. Apart from that, there is a ban on the entry of people to places of worship and a night curfew from 10 pm to 5 am will be in place. 

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Governor R N Ravi, in his maiden address to the Tamil Nadu Assembly later in the day, said that the government is fully prepared to tackle the COVID Omicron variant and the challenges it poses. Following this, the principal opposition AIADMK staged a walkout and boycotted his speech to target the ruling party.