Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami will be convening the cabinet meeting in the Chief Secretariat on Tuesday - July 14, amid peaking COVID-19 cases outside Chennai and the grounds of spread among the state ministers and legislators as three senior ministers and seven legislators have tested positive for the virus so far.

The cabinet meeting has been scheduled at 5 pm on Tuesday during which the council of ministers would be discussing a range of issues on the fray including the containment measures for COVID-19 spread, the effect of the lockdown, NEET examination, and other political issues.

According to the reports, the Chief Minister will be chairing the cabinet meeting and will take stock of the COVID-19 situation in the state. It has been speculated that he would also review the lockdown and restrictions in curbing the spread and the cabinet might decide to demand the Center to provide an exemption for NEET examinations for the state this year in the wake of the virus spread. 

The key discussion would be on enhancing the containment measures to mitigate the spread in various districts. Tamil Nadu has been going through the sixth phase of the lockdown from July 1 and on Monday, the state government announced that the public and private transports have been suspended till July 31. Earlier the suspension was till July 15.

The cabinet meeting won't be attended by senior ministers Sellur Raju, Thangamani, and KP Anbalagan as the trio has been tested positive for Coronavirus (COVID-19) and they have been getting treated in private hospitals in Chennai under isolation. Following the development, the government, on Tuesday, said the Chief Minister had gone COVID-19 testing and his result spelled negative. The reports stated that the Chief Minister will be visiting Erode and Krishnagiri districts on July 15 to inaugurate various projects amid the lockdown.

On Monday, Tamil Nadu has reported 4,328 COVID-19 cases of which 3,188 cases were recorded outside Chennai as most of the districts have reported unprecedented spikes of cases. The state's death toll has also crossed 2000, fourth highest in India. As of Monday, Tamil Nadu has reported 1,42,798 cases so far of which 48,196 are active, 92,567 have been recovered, and 2,032 had succumbed to the virus.