Explained: Why is Delhi mulling another lockdown
New Delhi, Apr 25: With the Covid-19 situation remaining grim in Delhi despite a mini-lockdown, the city government may consider extending it by some more days, sources said on Saturday.
On April 19, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a six-day lockdown that will be in force till 5 am on Monday, saying the step was taken to break the chain of the coronavirus infection and boost the health system that was on the verge of collapse.
"The idea behind the brief lockdown was that it will control the cases and give time to boost the health infrastructure, but the situation has gone from bad to worse. In such a situation, extending the lockdown, by maybe another week, is a possible option," a source in the Delhi government said.
The
Aam
Aadmi
Party
(AAP)
government
decided
to
impose
the
week-long
lockdown
to
curb
the
spread
of
the
virus
in
the
national
capital,
Kejriwal
had
said
while
announcing
the
measure.
However,
the
Covid-19
positivity
rate
is
still
over
30
per
cent
in
Delhi
and
the
number
of
fresh
cases
continues
to
rise.
A
total
of
24,331
cases
were
reported
in
the
city
on
Friday
and
the
positivity
rate
was
32.43
per
cent.
Delhi govt mulls extending lockdown amid COVID-19 surge
In an appeal to migrant workers not to leave the city due to the lockdown, Kejriwal had hoped that there might not be a need to extend it further.
Meanwhile, the Chamber of Trade and Industry claimed that according to a survey conducted by it, 70 per cent of the Delhi traders favour extending the lockdown.
The
traders' body
is
in
favour
of
the
lockdown
being
extended
till
April
30,
its
chairman
Brijesh
Goyal
said.
Community
platform
LocalCircles
has
also
appealed
to
the
authorities,
including
the
chief
minister
and
the
lieutenant
governor,
to
extend
the
lockdown
in
view
of
the
"biggest
health
emergency"
faced
by
the
city.
There is an urgent need to add capacity to the medical infrastructure and flatten the daily Covid cases, LocalCircles chairman Sachin Tapadia said, suggesting an extension of the lockdown by one or two weeks.