Chennai lockdown news: Today's updates

As the Central and state governments allow phase-wise relaxation in curbs to get the life up and running again following over two months of lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19, we bring you the latest updates from your city.
*Update at 10.00am: Record single-day spike of 9,983 Covid-19 cases takes India's tally to 2,56,611; death toll rises to 7,135 with 206 fatalities: Union health ministry
*Private hospitals in Chennai had 1,048 beds free as of Sunday, as per the dashboard of the government. And their ICUs had just 97 beds vacant. Beds are available on demand only in private medical college hospitals in the southern and western suburbs.
*Chennai’s neighbouring districts didn’t have a respite either. Chengalpet topped the list with 135 cases, Tiruvallur had 55, and Kancheepuram 16.
*With Tamil Nadu’s Covid-19 graph continuing its surge, chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Sunday appealed to the people for their cooperation to check community transmission.
*Covid-19 infections showed no signs of abating in Tamil Nadu with fresh cases topping 1,500 in a day for the first time on Sunday, taking the tally to 31,667.
*Tamil Nadu recorded 18 deaths, including that of a pregnant woman, pushing the toll to 269.
*Chennai continued to bear the brunt, with 1,156 of the 1,515 new cases, pushing up the demand for hospital beds. For the first time in days, the number of people under treatment in Chennai, 10,982, exceeded the number of those cured, 10,954, on Sunday.
*Government hospitals in Chennai remained crowded and patients had to be rushed to private hospitals, which were also filling up.