This is the fourth time that the lockdown has been extended in the capital. (Photo: Amit Mehra) The lockdown in Delhi has been extended for another week, and will be stricter than the last three installments. The Metro has been stopped, and weddings in banquet halls, hotels, and public places are prohibited.
The lockdown with added restrictions will be in place until May 17, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said. “I have spoken to traders, women, youth, and many others over the past few days. Everyone believes that while (Covid) cases have come down, they are not at the level where the lockdown can be lifted…otherwise what we have gained will be lost. So the lockdown is being extended for another week. This time, it will be a little more strict, and the Metro will not operate,” Kejriwal said.
Delhi first announced a weeklong lockdown on April 19, and has been extending it every Sunday as the average positivity rate in the city has remained very high. The CM said the positivity rate, which was 35% on April 26, has fallen to 23% over the past two days, but the situation was still serious.
Essential services have so far been allowed, and workers with e-passes or relevant identity cards have been allowed to travel by public transport, including the Metro.
On Sunday, Anuj Dayal, Executive Director (Corporate Communications ), DMRC, said: “In the wake of revised guidelines issued today by the Government of Delhi on the extension of curfew…for the containment of Covid-19, Delhi Metro services on all its lines shall also remain suspended for passenger/essential services from May 10 to May 17, 5 am.”
Those providing essential services, and healthcare workers will still be allowed to travel by other modes of public transport on the basis of their identity cards.
“There will be a complete prohibition on organising any marriage ceremony at public places/marriage halls/banquet halls/hotels and similar places. The marriage may, however, be organised in Court or at home, in which not more than 20 people will be allowed to participate,” the order passed by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority said. The order also said that movement to attend a wedding will be allowed only on the production of a soft or hard copy of the invitation card.
DJs, sound systems, tents, and catering services will not be allowed. Advances paid to wedding venues, caterers, or DJs must be returned, or the parties must agree to have the ceremony at a later date, the order says.
Delhi has been seeing the most daily detections among Indian cities for around a month now. The daily case count touched 28,000 in the last week of April, the most for any city so far.
The past week has, however, seen a slow decline in both cases and the positivity rate. On Sunday, Delhi reported 13,336 new cases and 273 Covid deaths. However, the number of tests dropped from around 75,000 over the past week to 61,000.
Kejriwal said the government had used the lockdown to increase the number of beds for Covid patients.
“People of Delhi have supported the lockdown and they have looked out for themselves and for each other. We used this lockdown period to increase oxygen beds. The availability of oxygen is the biggest issue in this surge. The demand has gone up to many times the usual. But the situation in Delhi is now improving, and we are not getting as many SOS calls as earlier,” he said.
Most beds have been added in stadia and places of worship that have been turned into Covid facilities, with NGOs and volunteers pitching in.
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