Delhi in an attempt to contain the further spread of the deadly contagion – coronavirus- has extended its total lockdown by another week.
The national capital's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday that the lockdown will be in place till May 31, and added that the lockdown process will be slow in order to keep a low positivity rate of the caseload.
"We didn't know how long this wave would have lasted. But within a month, the people of Delhi cooperated. Delhi has fought the virus like a family… even when there was an oxygen emergency… now there is an acute vaccine shortage. But I believe we will find a solution to this too," he said.
"Now the wave is weakening visibly. We haven't won yet but we may be taking control of the wave. In 24 hours, the positivity rate is below 2.5 per cent. At one point we were reported 28,000 cases daily (the positivity rate was around 35 per cent). Now in 24 hours we have reported 1,600 cases," Kejriwal said.
The lockdown was declared last month as the Covid cases started an upward trend and reached numbers that healthcare system crippled and cost thousands of lives.
Emphasising on the inoculation process Kejriwal said, "We have made all arrangements in Delhi so that within three months, everyone should get vaccinated, but there is lack of vaccines," adding that if everyone can be vaccinated in time, "we may escape the third wave of Covid".
On Saturday, Delhi's positivity rate had dropped to 3.58 per cent — the lowest since April 1. The national capital logged 2,260 new Covid cases, and the death count, at 182, also saw a major drop. Saturday was also the fourth consecutive day the city logged less than 4,000 daily cases.