COVID-19 lockdown in Delhi extended till May 24, announces CM Arvind Kejriwal

The lockdown that was scheduled to be in force till 5 am on May 17, now stands extended by another week till May 24.

Moneycontrol News

May 16, 2021 / 12:46 IST

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (File image)

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced that the ongoing lockdown in the national capital will be extended by another week, up to May 24 morning, to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“We are extending the lockdown for one more week. Instead of tomorrow (May 17), lockdown is extended till next Monday (May 24), 5 am in Delhi,” said Kejriwal.

The Delhi government had been forced to impose lockdown amid a steep rise in COVID-19 cases on April 20. It has been extended for the fourth time till May 24 morning. It was scheduled to end at 5 am on May 17.

The COVID-19 situation has been improving in Delhi with the number of cases and positivity rate going down steadily in the past few days. The chief minister said the lockdown is being extended as the gains made so far in combating the coronavirus cannot be lost due to relaxations now.

A day before the announcement, the national capital recorded 6,430 new COVID-19 cases and 337 fatalities while the positivity rate dipped to 11.32 percent, even as Kejriwal asserted that the cases are "slowly and steadily" reducing in Delhi.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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