Six-day complete lockdown in Delhi from tonight, essential services exempted: CM Kejriwal

New Delhi : Amid an exponential rise in Covid-19 cases, Delhi has been placed under lockdown from tonight till next Monday morning (April 26), Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Monday. The restrictions will remain in place from 10 PM tonight till 5 AM next Monday. Kejriwal said that city’s health system is under stress, adding that hospitals are facing a shortage of oxygen and ICU beds.

“I appeal to Delhiites to follow lockdown which is necessary to reduce COVID cases. We will improve health system during this time,” he said. The Chief Minister also appealed to migrant workers not to leave Delhi during ‘small lockdown’.

The decision to impose lockdown was taken during a meeting attended by CM Kejriwal, L-G Anil Baijal, Delhi Police Commissioner SN Srivastava, Delhi’s deputy CM Manish Sisodia, Health Minister Satyendra Jain and other officials. Sources told India TV that a decision on extending the curfew for one more week was proposed by Kejriwal which the L-G approved. The city government had last week announced curfew on weekend to arrest the spread of virus.

Essential services, however, will be exempted during the weeklong curfew, sources said, adding that all private and government offices will work remotely.

Delhi on Sunday recorded the biggest jump in its daily COVID-19 tally with 25,462 fresh cases, while the positivity rate shot up to 29.74 per cent — meaning almost every third sample being tested in the city is turning out to be positive. Authorities reported 161 deaths due to the disease in the last 24 hours. A day ago, 24,375 COVID-19 cases and 167 deaths were reported in the city.