COVID-19: Delhi extends lockdown till May 3 amid rise in cases

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal  on Sunday extended the ongoing lockdown in the national capital till May 3 to curb the spread of COVID-19. Speaking in a press conference, Kejriwal said, "Covid-19 is increasing rapidly in Delhi. In view of this, we had earlier imposed a six-day lockdown which was supposed to end tomorrow at 5am. Lockdown is last the weapon to deal with Covid-19. At present, the situation is not improving. Many people said the lockdown should be extended. Now the lockdown has been extended for one more week till Monday (May 3) 5am.

"The rules of the lockdown will remain the same. Only essential services and government offices will be allowed to function. All those employed with private offices will have to work from home. Malls, spas, gyms and auditoriums will be shut during the lockdown period while groceries, dairies are allowed to be kept open.Kejriwal also pointed out on Sunday that during last week's lockdown, the Covid-19 positivity rate climbed to almost 36 to 37 per cent. However, he added the rate went down in the last 1-2 days and today it went down below 30 per cent. "I'm not saying that Covid-19 is ending. We will have to observe for a few more days. The positivity rate might go up or come down." the Delhi chief minister said. Delhi on Saturday added 357 deaths due to Covid-19, the highest ever single day spike while 24,103 new cases took the caseload to 1,004,782, according to the health department's bulletin.