The Delhi government announced a complete lockdown from tonight to next Monday morning amid a record rise in cases. The Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held a meeting with L-G Anil Baijal today. Kejriwal said that the govt has always been honest to the citizens, whether the situation was grim or it improved,.
He further said that the positivity rate has increased and there is a shortage of beds in the national capital. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said less than 100 ICU beds are available in hospitals in the capital.
Kejriwal reiterated that Delhi is witnessing the fourth Covid wave which is mounting a lot of pressure on the health infrastructure. He said that the system has not collpapsed but is struggling a lot to cope up with the situation.
Kejriwal said that to prevent Delhi's health system from collapsing, the govt has taken strict measures. To curb the situation Delhi will go under a complete 6-day lockdown starting from tonight till Monday 5 AM, 26th April.
The CM said that all private offices will Work From Home and only government offices and essential services will be open. He also said that medical and food delivery service will operate as usual. Kejriwal said that an e-pass will be issued for marriage ceremonies considering the wedding season.
Kejriwal said, "In the next 6 days, we will make arrangements for more beds in Delhi. We thank Central govt for helping us. The lockdown period will be used to arrange oxygen, medicine. I request everyone to follow the guidelines."
The Delhi CM also made an appeal to the migrant labourers to not leave the national capital during the 6-day lockdown period. He assured that the Delhi lockdown will not be extended and the govt will take care of them.
Delhi on Sunday recorded the biggest jump in its daily Covid-19 tally with 25,462 fresh cases, and 161 people died due to the disease in the last 24 hours, while the positivity rate also shot up to 29.74 per cent. Around 20,159 people have recovered from the infection. There are a total of 74,941 active cases in the national capital and the death toll jumped to 12,121.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal has also written to Union Minister Piyush Goyal saying that oxygen meant for Delhi is being diverted to other states