Labourers in Gandhi Nagar in Delhi on Sunday. (Express Photo by Amit Mehra)
The lockdown-related restrictions will not be relaxed in Delhi after April 20, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced Sunday, pointing out that the number of coronavirus positive cases were on the rise in the city and lifting prohibitions on economic activities may worsen the situation.
Kejriwal said the decision will be reviewed after a week. He repeatedly referred to the situation in European countries such as Italy, Spain and France in making a case for prohibitory measures, which have remained enforced in the city for nearly a month now.
#WATCH “We have decided to keep people of Delhi safe, the lockdown will remain, there will be no relaxation. Will review again after a week,” Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal pic.twitter.com/spQ8aEpmtE
— ANI (@ANI) April 19, 2020
“I also want to offer relaxations. It is rather easy actually. And if we offer relaxations and the situation worsens, we fall short of ICUs and ventilators and people die in large numbers, we will not be able to forgive ourselves. Keeping the health of people of Delhi in mind, we have decided that as of now there will be no relaxations. We will again assess the situation after a week and offer some relaxations if the situation permits,” Kejriwal said.
The Indian Express had on April 16 reported that the city will be witnessing firmer lockdown measures such as enhanced perimeter surveillance at the containment zones and more testing instead of relaxations due to the “exponential increase” in corona positive cases in the city.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla had written to Chief Secretary Vijay Dev stating that “states/Union Territories cannot dilute restrictions imposed vide the guidelines issued by the MHA. States/UTs may, however, impose stricter measures, than these guidelines as per requirement of the local areas.”
Food being distributed at a migrant shelter in Delhi.
The nationwide lockdown has been extended till May 3.
During the briefing, Kejriwal touched upon an alarming development relating to a food relief volunteer, attached with one of the hunger relief centres run by the government, testing Covid-19 positive.
“Imagine how many people he may have infected. We have now decided to carry out rapid testing at the centre among people who come to that particular centre. I am assuming the same set of people come to get food at that centre. And across all the food centres, volunteers and others distributing food will also be part of rapid testing,” the CM said.
The most worrying part, Kejriwal said, is that out of 736 test reports that the government received on Saturday, 186, which translates to 25 per cent, were found positive. “And they were all asymptomatic, meaning these people had no idea that they were carrying the virus,” he added, putting the total number of confirmed cases at approximately 2003, out of which 26 are in ICUs and six are requiring ventilator support.
Children in masks during a magic performance at a shelter in New Delhi on Thursday.
“The number of containment zones, currently standing at 76, are also increasing. We had carried out random testing in containment zones. At such areas, we are not allowing people to move in or out. But inside, people mingle among themselves in violation of the norms. Corona is spreading fast in Delhi. It is a worrying situation, but things are still under control,” he said.
Laying stress on the importance of the nation-wide lockdown, which he has vocally supported multiple times in the past, Kejriwal said the situation could have been grave had these restrictive measures not been enforced. He pointed out that the available medical infrastructure could have crumbled had there been a further spike in cases.
“Two per cent of the country’s population live in Delhi. But 12 per cent of the total confirmed cases are in this city. We received the maximum number of people from abroad, who carried the virus with them. Later, the markaz nizamuddin gathering took place,” he added.