Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday, 1 May, said that the coronavirus-induced lockdown in the national capital will be extended by one more week, until 10 May.
The lockdown was first imposed on 19 April and was slated to end at 5 am on 26 April.
Over 25,000 Cases in Delhi Every Day
Delhi, with a positive rate of 36 percent, has been registering more than 25,000 cases every day for the last 13 days. On 20 April, Delhi recorded the highest number of new COVID cases with 28,395 patients.
The national capital’s active caseload is now nearly one lakh — more than double the earlier high of 44,000 recorded in mid-November 2020.
Kejriwal, at that time, stated that it had become necessary to implement the lockdown and it was the last resort.
“Last week (19 April), we had imposed a six-day lockdown, which was supposed to end at 5 am tomorrow (26 April). The intensity, with which the cases are rising, made it imperative to impose this lockdown. This was the last resort against the rising cases in Delhi and it had become essential to do it. But the COVID surge refuses to come down. We took opinions from the people and everybody said that the lockdown should be extended. It is now being extended in Delhi for another week till 5 am next Monday (3 May),” Kejriwal said in a briefing.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)