Delhi lockdown extended till May 17
The ongoing lockdown in Delhi will be extended for another week up to May 17 morning and Metro train services will be halted during the period, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday. He said although COVID-19 cases have come down in the last few days, any slackness would squander the gains achieved so far in the current wave of the pandemic. The Delhi government had been forced to impose lockdown amid a steep rise in COVID-19 cases on April 20.
Although the cases have come down and the positivity rate has reduced from the high of 35 per cent on April 26 to around 23 per cent now, but strictness is needed, he said.
The lockdown scheduled to end at 5 am on Monday will now be extended up to May 17 morning.
The chief minister also said that the oxygen supply in Delhi has improved significantly in the last few days. Vaccination is also going on at a fast pace although there is a lack of adequate vaccine stock, Kejriwal said.
On Saturday, Delhi recorded 332 more COVID-19 fatalities and 17,364 new infections, while the positivity rate remained below 25 per cent for the third consecutive day, the Health Department said.
This is the fifth time in the last six days that the number of new cases remained below 20,000.
Delhi had reported 19,832 cases on Friday, 19,133 cases on Thursday, 20,960 cases on Wednesday, 19,953 on Tuesday, 18,043 on Monday, 20,394 cases on Sunday, 25,219 on Saturday, 27,047 on Friday, 24,235 on last Thursday and 25,986 on Wednesday last week, according to data.
The case positivity rate was 23.34 per cent, the lowest since April 16, when it was 19.7 per cent, according to government data. It was 24.6 per cent on April 17.
The national capital registered a positivity rate of 24.92 per cent on Friday, 24.29 per cent on Thursday, 26.37 per cent on Wednesday, 26.73 per cent on Tuesday, 29.56 per cent on Monday, 28.33 per cent on Sunday, 31.6 per cent on Saturday, 32.7 per cent on Friday and 32.8 per cent on last Thursday.
On April 22, a positivity rate of 36.2 per cent, the highest so far, was recorded.
