Delhi Lockdown Likely To Be Extended For Another Week As National Capital Gasps For Breath

With the COVID-19 situation remaining grim in Delhi despite a mini-lockdown, the city government may consider extending it by some more days.

Lockdown to be extended in Delhi

Though Maharashtra has been reporting the highest number of Covid cases in the country but Delhi is worst affected after acute shortage of oxygen and other medical facilities. The national capital is gasping for breath, pushing health services to the brink, the Delhi government will extend the lockdown in the national capital by at least one more week, senior government officials said on Saturday.

According to a report by PTI, an order to extend the lockdown will be issued on Sunday by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA).

"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 Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government on April 19 announced a six-day lockdown which came in force on April 26 (Monday) and it is now likely to be extended by another week, officials said.

Meanwhile, the domestic traders body, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has also urged the Delhi government to further extend the lockdown beyond April 26 to bring the pandemic under control. In a letter to CM Kejriwal, CAIT said going by the current statistics, the situation is quite alarming in Delhi.

“The CAIT has urged for extension of lockdown in Delhi beyond April 26… as and when the situation is improved, the lockdown can be lifted,” the confederation said in a statement.

Meanwhile, a survey conducted by LocalCircles states that Delhi residents agree to extend lockdown for another week.  A total of 48 per cent of respondents asked the Kejriwal government to extend the shutdown by two more weeks, while 68 per cent of the respondents demanded an extension of lockdown by at least a week.