Tamil Nadu Chief Minister has on Saturday extended the lockdown in the state for another week and the lockdown extension has come two days ahead of the deadline of the current lockdown. The current phase of the lockdown, that poured major relaxations in the state, will come to an end by Monday and the state will be renewed with the fresh phase of the lockdown till July 19. 

The Chief Minister has announced a few more relaxations in the fresh phase amid battling the pandemic and facing the shortage of COVID-19 vaccines. The state government has said that the existing relaxations will continue and the government has permitted hotels, restaurants, bakeries, and street-side shops to function till 9 pm with 50% across the state from Monday. 

Earlier, the government has allowed these establishments to function till 8 pm and the current phase of the lockdown had relaxed the public and private transportations across the state and the government has also revoked the e-pass system. Let's take a look at what's permitted and what's not in Tamil Nadu from Monday, 

The following services will continue to be banned in the state until further orders, 

• International flight travel apart from the flight services that are allowed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs
• Interstate public and private bus services (except for Puducherry)
• All sorts of bars and swimming pools
• Cinema halls and theatres
• Schools and Colleges remain to be closed
• Public, political, and religious meetings
• Entertainment and sport events
• Zoological parks 
• Around 50 people will be permitted to attend marriage ceremonies and only 20 people will be allowed to attend funerals.

The following are the restrictions in containment zones,

• Essential services will only be allowed in the containment zones.
• Ensuring to follow the measure of test-track-treat and COVID-19 vaccination.
• Door-to-door tracking will be conducted with the help of volunteers. 

The following are the new relaxations that will come into effect from Monday, 

• Public and private bus services for Puducherry
• Competitive exams for state and union governments will be conducted with the required permission and by adhering to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
• Hotels, tea shops, bakeries, sweet shops, and roadside shops can function till 9 pm with 50% occupancy from Monday. 

According to the state health department, Tamil Nadu has reported 3,039 fresh COVID-19 cases, 3,411 discharges, and 69 deaths on Friday. In total, the state has recorded 25,13,098 cases so far as of Friday of which 33,224 are active, 24,46,552 have been discharged, and 33,322 had succumbed to the viral infection.