Chennai lockdown news: Today's updates from your city

Amid prevalent chaos and uncertainty over access to the essential services and commodities during the lockdown, we bring you the latest updates from your city.
Update at 2.40pm: Harsh Vardhan appeals all states, UTs to ban sale of tobacco products, spitting in public
Update at 2.30pm: SC stays Madras HC order asking TN govt to close liquor shops in state
Update at 2.05pm: All state government offices shall function with half the work force (50%) from May 18. Six-day working week, including Saturdays as working days with present office timings: Tamil Nadu government
Update at 1.30pm: Madras HC dismisses as withdrawn PIL seeking direction to Tamil Nadu government to postpone board exams for Class X and XII till the state reports zero Covid-19 cases
Update at 1.10pm: Tamil Nadu CM's public relief fund receives donation of Rs 367 crore until Thursday for Covid-19 prevention
Update at 12.35pm: The Indian Railways operated 145 'Shramik Special' trains on Thursday and ferried home close to 2.10 lakh migrants stranded in various parts of the country amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown, officials said.
Update at 11.30am: Edappadi K Palanisami announces Rs 50 lakh solatium to the family of the VAO Kumar who was killed in a road accident when he was on the way back home from Covid-19 duty at a quarantine facility in Trichy
Update at 11.10am: World Bank announces $1 billion social protection package for India linked to Govt of India programmes
Update at 10.50am: Death toll due to Covid-19 rises to 2,649; cases climb to 81,970 in India, reports PTI quoting health ministry
* With the state continuing to see a rise in Covid-19 cases, the Tamil Nadu government is likely to announce a lockdown extension up to May 31, but with some more easing of norms. On Thursday, the state government-appointed health expert team recommended to chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami a phased easing of the lockdown.
* Tamil Nadu on Thursday recorded 447 Covid-19 cases, its lowest count in the last 10 days, but now has more people infected than all states except Maharashtra. There are 9,674 cases in TN, 82 more than in Gujarat. Two more people died taking the state’s Covid tally to 66.
* Home to thousands of long distance worthy private buses, besides its own fleet of mofussil and a/c buses, Tamil Nadu can organise some thousand buses a day to ferry guest workers to Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and even Maharashtra and Odisha.
* With queues of Tamils stranded within the country and abroad waiting to return home growing longer, Tamil Nadu political leaders have urged the Centre and the state government to extend a helping hand.
* More than 1,000 guest workers from Bihar gathered at Sulur late on Wednesday night, requesting officials to send them home. Officials promised to help them and asked them to return to their workplace. They were told to approach their village administrative officers (VAOs) to get themselves registered.
* The city's major commercial centres, T Nagar and Broadway, are slowly coming alive after a long lull, days after the government allowed a variety of standalone shops to reopen.