Covid-19: Delhi government likely to extend lockdown by another week

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New Delhi: The Delhi government is likely to extend the ongoing lockdown by another week, although the Covid situation is improving in the city with less number of cases and declining positivity rate in the past few days, official sources said on May 22.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had first imposed a lockdown on April 19, which was later extended multiple times, lastly on May 16.

In the past 24 hours, around 2,200 cases were reported in the city and the positivity rate too declined to 3.5%, Kejriwal said in an online briefing earlier in the day.

“But this does not mean the threat of coronavirus has been averted. We have to take all the steps to safeguard against coronavirus,” he said.

The chief minister had said on May 21 that he would have a discussion with the Lt governor and share the decision taken in the meeting, when asked by reporters about any relaxation in lockdown in view of the improving situation.

“The ongoing second wave has been very fatal and there are little chances that lockdown will be relaxed. It is highly likely that another weeklong extension will be announced by the government,” the sources said.

Community platform LocalCircles conducted a survey in which 68 per cent respondents from Delhi favoured a weeklong extension of the lockdown, said founder of LocalCircles Sachin Tapadia.

The percentage of respondents favouring lockdown extension was 85% in the last two weeks, he said. Brijesh Goyal, the chairman of Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI), said the opinion of traders was divided over extension of the lockdown as revealed in a survey conducted by it.

“Fifty per cent traders of Delhi are in favour of extending the lockdown for another one week and the remaining 50% supported opening the city,” he said.

Goyal said the survey also revealed that 85% of factory owners were in favour of opening up all types of industrial activities shut due to the lockdown.