Kejriwal announces lockdown extension in Delhi till May 3
New Delhi: Amid spiralling Covid-19 cases and deaths in the city, amplified by the crumbling healthcare infrastructure due to an acute shortage of oxygen, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday announced that Delhi's initial 6-day curfew would be extended for one more week till May 3, 5 am, especially given that both cases and positivity rate were still very high.
The Chief Minister said: "We will have to watch the situation for a few more days whether the cases decrease or increase." He added that general public opinion was for the government to extend the lockdown given the situation in the Capital.
"The positivity rate reached up to 36-37 per cent in past few days although it has slightly dipped now. It is around 29 per cent today," he said.
The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) in the order extending the lockdown, allowed services of courier outlets, electricians and plumbers, repair of water purifiers, and shops selling books and electric fans.
The Chief Minister said the onslaught of the Coronavirus has not subsided even as the government had imposed the six-day lockdown as a last resort.
As for handling the oxygen crisis that the city has been facing for the last one week amid rebukes from the Delhi High Court that it must do more to fill the gap in supply, the Delhi government has decided that the manufacturers, suppliers and hospitals will update supply and consumption data every two hours on a portal set up by it.
"This is to ensure that the Delhi government knows where shortage might be felt and is able to divert resources in that direction in time," Kejriwal said, adding that the Centre had further increased Delhi's oxygen quota by 10 MT per day to 490 MT and hoped the chaotic situation due to oxygen crisis in Delhi will end in a few days.
"But we are yet to receive the full quota. Currently, only 330-335 tonnes per day supply is being received by us," he said. However, the chief minister said his government is receiving much support from the Centre and both are properly coordinating to solve the oxygen supply problem.
But even as the Delhi government prepares to coordinate reserve supplies to hospitals in better time frames, it continues to wait for large supplies of medical oxygen from Odisha and West Bengal due to a lack of tankers. He had also written to Chief Ministers of states to help Delhi with spare oxygen and tankers and on Sunday said some states had responded and negotiations had begun. "I will update you about any positive results as and when they come," he said.
Noting that ministers and officers of his government were working overnight to ensure steady oxygen supplies to the hospitals, Kejriwal went on to also acknowledge that they had failed in certain areas this last week.
He said: "I do not claim that all our efforts have reaped successful results.
In some cases, we have failed, and in some others, we have managed to ensure oxygen supply to its destination."
On Sunday, Delhi recorded 22,933 new cases and 350 fresh fatalities with 94,592 active cases.
The DDMA in its order on Sunday stated that the situation of COVID-19 in Delhi has again been reviewed and it is observed that positive cases, as well as the positivity rate, are still very high.
"....therefore, in order to contain the spread of virus and to further break the transmission chain, curfew needs to be extended for a further period of one week in Delhi (except for essential activities and services), as an emergency measure." All restrictions outlined in the earlier lockdown directions will continue.
