The Tamil Nadu state government has announced that the statewide lockdown would be extended till May 17 across its territory to stem the spread of the virus. The announcement has come hours after the state cabinet has consented to extend the lockdown and a day after the Central government has renewed the nationwide lockdown. 

The extended statewide lockdown would be coming into effect on May 4, after the current spell of the lockdown comes to an end. Although the decision was taken to link the state with the nationwide lockdown, the state government has rolled out fresh guidelines for the extended tenure. According to the reports, the government has permitted the essential shops across the state to function from 6 am to 5 pm till May 17.

In its order, the state government has echoed the Center's directives of continuing the ban on the transportation channels. The state government has prohibited the resumption of transportations including air, rail, metro, and movements by road till May 17. The eateries and restaurants across the state would offer the parcel services from 6 am till 9 pm and dining services remain suspended. 

The IT companies in Chennai can function with 10% of in-office manpower while the rest can continue working from their homes and the ban placed on the spas and saloons would continue while the government has permitted to resume the operations of hardware, cement, construction works, and mobile shops across the state and they can carry out their businesses from 11 am to 5  pm during the entire tenure. 

The government asserted that the containment zones would be given with no relaxations to grip up its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and the cab, taxis, and rickshaws are banned to resume their rides till the lockdown. The government has permitted the resumption of industries such as Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Export Oriented Units (EOUs) in the rural panchayats across the state except in Chennai and the industries can operate only with 50% of the manpower. 

The government has prohibited religious, political, and cultural gatherings and events, and the religious places and the places of worship would be remain closed to the public. In the order, the government said that the funerals should not have the presence of more than twenty people and the ban continues on hotels, restaurants, and resorts.

The reports stated that schools, colleges, training, and other educational institutions won't be functioning till May 17 so are the recreation places such as malls, bars, cinema halls, and shopping complexes. The essentials and the movements of the emergency services would be functioning as usual across the state. According to the Central government, Tamil Nadu currently has 12 districts under the red zone.