Chennai unlock 2.0 news: Today's updates

Emerging from a 100-day lockdown, punctuated by a brief, fortnight-long exit, the city opened up to brisk business. Stay with us for all the latest updates from Chennai and the rest of Tamil Nadu.
*Update at 2.16pm: Tamil Nadu came under an intense lockdown, the third successive Sunday of full curbs without any relaxations to help fight Covid-19 and roads everywhere wore a deserted look as people stayed indoors. Barring milk supply and health care services, all other activities came to a halt and markets were closed down. Shops, including those selling essential commodities, were shut. (PTI)
*Update at 1.35pm: Covid-19 screening centre at Nesapakkam in Chennai on Sunday

*Update at 12.45pm: 109 Covid-9 positive cases and 92 discharged in Puducherry today. The total number of positive cases in the union territory rises to 1,999 including 1,154 discharged and 28 deaths, ANI reports quoting government of Puducherry.
*Update at 10.17am: Highest single day spike of 38,902 cases and 543 deaths reported in India in the last 24 hours. Total Covid-19 cases stand at 10,77,618 including 3,73,379 active cases, ANI reports quoting Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
*Update at 9.32pm: 1,37,91,869 samples tested for Covid-19 up to 18th July, of which 3,58,127 were tested yesterday, ANI reports quoting Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
*There was cheer when a downward trend in Covid-19 positive cases was seen in the city after a fortnight’s complete lockdown and increased testing. That trend is now at risk of being upended, owing to the callous public attitude towards physical distancing at markets.The fear is that a situation like that at the Koyambedu wholesale market, which became one of the largest clusters in TN, could develop elsewhere.
*More than a week after the Greater Chennai Corporation commissioner announced setting up of a management committee and a roving supervisory squad for each of 81 small, medium and big markets, there has been little impact. On Saturday, huge crowds thronged Kasimedu fishing harbour, Loop Road fish market near Marina and some makeshift vegetable markets. In places like Thiruvanmiyur, however, physical distancing norms were followed.
*Pooled testing, screening of small groups or pools of samples using only one test, will be used in 21 districts that have a test positivity rate (positive samples over total samples) between 2% and 5%. Instead of testing one person at a time, samples from five individuals would be tested as one.
*The health department on Saturday permitted pooled testing in some districts to reduce turnaround time for results after Tamil Nadu reported 88 more Covid-19 deaths, including 32 in Chennai and 14 in the three adjoining districts.
*Tamil Nadu on Saturday reported its highest single day spike in Covid-19 infections as well as the number of daily deaths, with the total infection count crossing 1.65 lakh.
*As many as 4,807 new positive cases of Coronavirus were reported from different parts of the state on Saturday, even as over 3,049 people were discharged after recovery.
*The state saw 88 fatalities, the highest single day toll so far, pushing the death toll to 2,403, a health department bulletin said. With the addition of the new Covid-19 cases, the infection count has gone up to 1,65,714. (PTI)