Tamil nadu : The Tamil Nadu government announced on Saturday that the state's Covid-19 induced lockdown is being extended by a week till July 19. The government also announced further relaxations which, it said, will come into effect at 6am on Monday when the existing guidelines, which were announced last Friday when the lockdown was extended till July 12, come to an end. According to an order issued by chief minister MK Stalin-led government, restaurants, tea shops, roadside shops, snacks shops and bakeries can now open for one more hour, till 9pm, at an occupancy of 50%. Last week, the Tamil Nadu government allowed these to open till 8pm, from the earlier deadline of 7pm.

Additionally, the government has also allowed competitive exams for state and Union government services to be held, though officials will have to ensure strict compliance with the standard operating procedure (SOP). Examination agencies will be required to inform respective district administrations in advance.

Also, in continuation with last week's order, schools, colleges, theatres, bars, swimming pools, swimming pools, zoos, biological parks etc. will remain closed. All social/political/cultural events, too, will remain prohibited. Several other relaxations, which were announced last week, will also continue to stay in force.

On Friday, a total of 3,039 new Covid-19 cases and 69 deaths due to the infection were detected in Tamil Nadu, according to a health department bulletin on the day. With this, the state's cumulative Covid-19 infection tally has risen to 2,513,098 including 33,322 related fatalities.