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.
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It was the second consecutive day when Delhi has recorded less than 10,000 cases in a day. However, the lesser number of fresh cases recorded on the day came from a relatively smaller number of tests -- 56,811 -- conducted on May 14.
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