Amid the high fatalities in the ongoing second wave of Covid-19, Delhi government has decided to extend lockdown in the national capital Delhi by another week till May 17, Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi, said on Sunday. It has also made the upcoming leg of lockdown more stringent by announcing that no metro trains service will be there for next one week till May 17.

This is Delhi’s third extension of the lockdown after the initial lockdown was done on April 20 to curb the spread of Covid-19. It was later extended by a week from April 26 and again by a week from May 3.

Addressing a digital press conference, Kejriwal said: “We have used the lockdown period to improve Delhi’s health infrastructure and systems. The main issue in Delhi was oxygen shortage. With Centre’s help, the condition is better now. The positivity rate too has gone down but still we can’t afford leniency or let our guard down. We need to extend the lockdown”.

Although the test positivity rate has come down from 35 percent to 23 per cent, the doctors say that even this reduced level of 23 per cent is very high, he noted.

Delhi had been ravaged by the ongoing second wave of Covid-19, which had overwhelmed the healthcare system in the capital as several hospitals ran short of medical oxygen due to surge in new Covid-19 infections. This had prompted the Delhi Government to import medical oxygen plants besides knocking the doors of the central government to increase the daily quota of oxygen supplies to the national capital. On an average, the daily requirement of medical oxygen in Delhi is now 700 MT. After the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court had intervened, the Centre had on May 3 supplied 730 MT medical oxygen, easing the situation to some extent in the capital.

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