Coronavirus: Delhi lockdown extended till May 17, says Arvind Kejriwal
The ongoing lockdown in Delhi has been extended by one week till May 17 to stem the spread of COVID-19 in the national capital, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Sunday. Kejriwal said the lockdown will be made stricter, adding that services of the Delhi Metro will also be suspended for the next week. Delhi reported over 17,000 new cases on Saturday.
Lockdown being extended to sustain decline in infections: Kejriwal
Addressing a video conference, Kejriwal said, "We can all see how dangerous the current wave of COVID-19 is. A lot many people are being hospitalized. Many have died." Kejriwal said that while COVID-19 cases have declined since the lockdown first came into force on April 19, he feels compelled to order an extension of the lockdown to sustain the decline.
Lockdown will be stricter; Metro services suspended
The lockdown—which has already seen two week-long extensions—was supposed to be lifted at 5 am on Monday (May 10), but now it will be lifted at 5 am on May 17. "This time, the lockdown will be stricter," Kejriwal said, adding that even Metro services will be suspended. Earlier, public transport such as buses and Metro trains were allowed to function at 50% capacity.
Oxygen crisis in Delhi remedied, says Kejriwal
Kejriwal said that the lockdown period has been used for capacity building and the number of oxygen beds has been boosted. "Now we will not get to hear that any hospital has only a few hours' worth of medical oxygen left," he said. He further said that there is a shortage of vaccine doses and hopes that the Centre will extend its support.
Infection positivity rate declining in Delhi
Delhi reported 17,364 new cases on Saturday—the latest available update—marking a test positivity rate of 23.34%. 20,160 more patients recovered on the day. Kejriwal noted that the positivity rate has declined from a high of 35% on April 26. The total number of infections has now climbed to 13,10,231, which includes 87,907 active cases. 332 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 19,071.
