Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Sunday announced the extension of the COVID-19 lockdown across the State till May 31.

In a statement, Mr. Palaniswami said that the decision to extend the lockdown was taken after inputs from District Collectors, public health and medical experts and senior officers in the State government.

While the restrictions already in place would continue in most of the areas, the Chief Minister said some relaxations would be allowed in specific districts.

Though he announced that intra-district e-passes, which were necessary, were discontinued in 25 districts, the government would continue with inter-district e-passes.The 25 districts where intra-district e-passes were not necessary for movement are: Coimbatore, Salem, Erode, Tiruppur, Namakkal, Karur, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Tenkasi, Kanyakumari, Theni, Madurai, Sivaganga, Virudhunagar, Ramanathapuram, Dindigul, Pudukkottai, Tiruchi, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Vellore and the Nilgiris.

Mr. Palaniswami has also allowed the evaluation of the Class 12 board exams. “More relaxations will follow depending on the severity of the spread of the disease,” he said.

So far, 1,665 persons on 10 special flights and another 264 persons on two ships have been brought back to the State under Vande Bharat missions. The Chief Minister also said steps would be taken to operate with the Centre’s permission, two special trains a week between Delhi and Chennai.