Delhi will be under complete curfew from tonight to next Monday morning after witnessing a record rise in cases, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Monday.
The decision was taken during a meeting attended by CM Kejriwal, L-G Anil Baijal, Delhi Police Commissioner SN Srivastava, Delhi’s deputy CM Manish Sisodia, Health Minister Satyendra Jain and other officials.
Essential services, however, will be exempted during the weeklong curfew, sources said, adding that all private and government offices will work remotely.
Earlier, the Delhi CM in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said the Covid-19 situation in the national capital is getting worse.
At this point, a lockdown will also help the government in slowing the spread and ramping up hospital and ICU facilities.
The Chief Minister also urged the PM to reserve at least 7,000 hospital beds in Delhi for coronavirus patients.
“Delhi has around 10,000 beds at Central Government’s hospitals. Out of these, only 1,800 have been reserved for COVID-19 patients. Taking note of the seriousness of this situation, it is my request to you, to reserve at least 7,000 beds for COVID-infected patients. Delhi is also facing a grave shortage of oxygen. Provide us oxygen on an urgent basis,” the Chief Minister wrote.
Delhi now has less than 100 ICU beds for coronavirus patients, said CM Arvind Kejriwal.
Virtually addressing the people of Delhi on Sunday, the Chief Minister said the national capital is witnessing an upward trajectory in terms of new confirmed cases of Covid-19.
Hospital beds in Delhi reserved for Covid-19 patients are filling up rapidly. “Positivity rate increased from 24 per cent to 30 per cent in the last 24 hours.
On Sunday Delhi recorded a high of over 25,000 new confirmed cases of Covid-19. This was the national capital’s highest single-day tally since the beginning of the pandemic last year.