Delhi: CM Kejriwal extends lockdown till May 17, metro services suspended

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said the government, based on everyone's feedback, has decided to extend the lockdown for another week till May 17. Kejriwal added that the government has decided to impose a stricter lockdown this time, as metro services will also be suspended.

The chief minister said the decision to extend the lockdown for another week has been taken after thorough consultation with traders, women and youth. While the positivity rate in the Capital has come down to 23 per cent from 35 per cent in the last two to three days, he said, the situation still needs to be improved and taken under control.

He said that the positivity rate in the Capital on April 26 stood as high as 35 per cent and it was after that the cases gradually started declining as the chain of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) infections began to break.

Speaking about the existing Covid-19 curbs in place, Kejriwal said that the Delhi government used the lockdown period to step up the healthcare infrastructure by adding more oxygen beds.

Delhi was among the worst-hit states as it suffered from an acute shortage of medical essentials required to combat the destructive second wave of Covid-19. The heavy paucity of oxygen, even in the hospitals costed many lives.

On oxygen shortage, the chief minister said that the situation of availability of life-saving gas has improved now and SOS calls, reports from hospitals running out of oxygen supply have also declined significantly. He said the high court and Supreme Court's orders and the Centre's assistance helped in the improvement of the situation in the past few days.

Kejriwal also spoke of the recently started phase 3 of the vaccination drive. The vaccination drive has been accelerated in Delhi, however, we face a shortage of vaccine supplies, he said, adding that the government has asked for support from the Centre.

Delhi reported 17,364 new Covid-19 infections and 332 deaths in the last 24 hours on Saturday, according to the health bulletin. In the last six days, the Capital reported less than 20,000 new infections in 24 hours for fifth straight day.

The positivity rate in the national capital, which is currently under lockdown also remained below 25 per cent for the third consecutive day, the Covid-19 dashboard showed.

Lockdown in Delhi was imposed on April 20, and since then it has been extended several times to contain the spread of the virus. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said the number of Covid-19 cases has come down in the last few days but it is important to extend the lockdown to prevent it from deteriorating.