Coronavirus live updates: Ban on flights from 6 cities to Kolkata extended till August 15

In a statement, chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said the government would implement total lockdown on all Sundays in the month of August, with no relaxations, across the state. In Greater Chennai police limits, all private offices, industrial establishments and export-oriented units can function with 75% strength. Restaurants are permitted to function between 6am and 7pm with dine-in facilities, with 50% seating capacity and by maintaining social distancing.

"Passengers are requested to contact concerned airlines for changes in flight schedule," the statement read.

Hours after the Centre issued fresh Unlock 3.0 guidelines on Wednesday, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray green-lighted reopening of malls and market complexes starting August 5 from 9 am to 7 pm. However, the order does not include movie halls, food courts/restaurants or gyms. Kitchens of restaurants and food courts located inside malls will be permitted though to carry out digital deliveries using aggregators.

Masks have been compulsory in the state capital of Melbourne and a neighbouring semi-rural district for the past week. Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said Thursday that masks or other face coverings will be compulsory for the whole state beginning late Sunday. In addition, residents around the city of Geelong will not be allowed to have visitors in their homes beginning late Thursday.

A CDSCO expert panel has sought clarifications from Serum Institute of India (SII) over its application to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) seeking permission for conducting phase 2 and 3 human clinical trials of the Oxford vaccine candidate for Covid-19, official sources said on Wednesday. The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on Covid-19 asked the Pune-based firm to revise its protocol for the phase 2 and 3 clinical trials, besides seeking some additional information.