The Tamil Nadu government has extended the lockdown by another week, till July 19, while announcing a few more relaxations to the restrictions. Bakeries, hotels, restaurants and street-side shops can function with 50% upto 9 pm. Operation of bus services to Puducherry have been restarted.
Under the guidelines announced on July 2, dining was allowed in restaurants and food courts with 50% capacity till 8 pm. Intra-district as well as inter-district public transport including buses was also permitted with 50% seating capacity. The requirement of e-registration/e-pass for inter-district travel within the state was removed.
New relaxations announced:
> Bus services to begin for Puducherry.
> Competitive exams for state and union government services can be conducted with the required permission and by following the SOP.
> Hotels, tea shops, bakery, sweet and savoury shops, roadside kirana stores can function with 50% occupancy till 9 pm.
Restrictions to continue on:
> Interstate private and government bus services (Except for Puducherry).
> International flight travel
> Cinema halls
> All bars
> Swimming pools
> Public, political and religious meetings
> Entertainment, sports meets
> Schools and Colleges
> Zoos
> Around 50 people will be permitted to attend marriage ceremonies, while only 20 people are allowed to attend funerals.
Restrictions in containment zones:
> Ensuring Test-track-treat-vaccination-COVID-19 appropriate behaviour
> Only essential services will be allowed
> Door to door tracking will be conducted with the help of volunteers
On Friday, the state registered 3,039 new COVID-19 cases and 69 deaths, with the total number of cases reaching 25.1 lakh. Chennai, on Friday, reported 189 new cases of COVID-19. The number of new COVID-19 cases being reported across the state are on the decline, three districts--Coimbatore, Salem and Dindigul--reported the highest number of cases in the state. The state is again short of vaccines with just over 50,000 doses of vaccine left as on Friday.