Lockdown in Delhi extended amid surge in COVID-19 cases
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday announced the extension of the ongoing lockdown in the national capital for another week, saying the severity of COVID 19 was unabated and the positivity rate has been as high as 36 percent in the last few days. The lockdown imposed on April 19 night will now continue till 5 AM on May 3, he said.
"We will have to watch the situation for a few more days, whether the cases decrease or increase," he said.
"We have started a portal that will be updated every two hours by oxygen manufacturers, suppliers and hospitals for better management of oxygen supply. The Central and State teams are working together," the chief minister said.
Commenting on the shortage of oxygen across hospitals in Delhi, CM Kejriwal said he has already asked for help from other states. On Saturday, Kejriwal had sent an SOS to his counterparts in other states seeking their help in boosting medical oxygen supply in the national capital.
As the desperate hunt for the life-saving gas continued in the national capital amid rising coronavirus cases, the chief minister told the states that despite the central government's help, the severity of COVID-19 was such that all available resources were proving to be inadequate.
"I would be grateful if you could provide us with any oxygen, along with tankers, from your state or any organization in your state. Kindly treat this as an SOS," Kejriwal wrote in his letter to the chief ministers.
COVID-19 situation in Delhi
Delhi recorded the highest single-day rise in its COVID-19 death toll with 357 more people succumbing to the viral disease on Saturday as well as over 24,000 fresh cases, according to the latest bulletin issued by the city health department.
With the fresh cases, the national capital's cumulative COVID-19 tally has climbed to over 10 lakh and the death toll due to the viral disease stands at 13,898, the bulletin said.
The positivity rate stood at 32.27 per cent, it added.
The data of the last 24 hours also revealed that the number of active coronavirus cases in the national capital is inching closer to the one-lakh mark.
The tally of active cases has climbed to 93,080 in the city.
A significant number of 22,695 patients recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours, the bulletin said.
A total of 74,702 tests, including over 32,000 rapid-antigen tests, were conducted in the said period, it added.
A total of 35,455 vaccine doses were administered to people in the said period and the beneficiaries included 20,615 who took the first dose and 14,840 who received the second dose, the bulletin said.
