70% of Traders in Delhi Want Lockdown Extension: Industry Body

Delhi has recorded 2,100 COVID-related deaths in just 11 days.

70% Of Traders In Delhi Want Extension In Lockdown In The City

(Photo: File)

As the Delhi government extended the lockdown in the national capital till 3 May, traders in the city said that they were in favour of the move.

Seventy percent of the city traders were in favour of extending the lockdown beyond April 26 amid the worsening COVID crisis in the Capital, stated the Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI), on Saturday, 24 April, according to news agency PTI.

As many as 700 trade organisations were part of the survey conducted by CTI. Out of this, about 500 were in favour of extending the lockdown.

"Most organisations were in favour of extending the lockdown in Delhi for five to seven days. The traders made it clear that they would follow the decision of the Delhi government only and won't impose any lockdown on their own," said Brijesh Goyal, chairman of the CTI.

On 19 April, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced a six-day lockdown till 5am on 26 April. On 25 April, the government further extended this lockdown to 3 May.

"The COVID situation had worsened, which is why we started a six-day lockdown last week. It was scheduled to end tomorrow. But the infections are continuing to rise. Hence, everybody agreed that we needed to extend the restrictions to curb the spread,” Kejriwal said.

Delhi is seeing a massive surge in COVID-19 cases with 24,331 fresh cases and a record single-day jump of 348 deaths on Friday, 23 April. The capital has a positivity rate of above 30 percent. In the last 11 days, the city saw a whopping 2,100 deaths due to the virus.

(With inputs from PTI)