Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday announced that the lockdown in the Capital will be extended by another week, till 5 am on May 31. Kejriwal said that an “unlocking” process will start if the daily cases continue to drop further.
“If we open the lockdown now, then achievement gained through hard work, struggle and sacrifice might end,” he said. “Everyone’s advice is to extend the lockdown by another week.”
Kejriwal said that daily coronavirus cases and the positivity rate is dropping in the national Capital. The positivity rate had climbed to 37% and there were as many as 28,000 Covid-19 cases in April, he said.
The daily positivity rate is now 2.5% and 1,600 cases were reported in the last 24 hours, the chief minister said.
Kejriwal added that the top priority of the Delhi government is to vaccinate its 2 crore citizens in the shortest possible time. “We have made all arrangements in Delhi so that within three months, everyone can get vaccinated,” he said. “But there is a shortage of vaccines across the country.”
Kejriwal said that there has been speculation about a third coronavirus wave. He added that if everyone was inoculated, the third wave might not happen. The chief minister said that he was personally talking to domestic and foreign companies for the vaccine shots. “One the other hand, if the third wave comes, we are preparing for it,” he said.
The chief minister also said that Delhi had faced various problems, especially the shortage of medical oxygen, but a solution has been found. He thanked the residents of the city, the central government, the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court for their help in mitigating the problem.
Kejriwal also thanked doctors who are at the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and paid tribute to medical practitioners who lost their lives during this time.
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