Covid-19: Fifth phase of lockdown begins in Delhi as positivity rate down to 10.4%

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Sunday that the lockdown in the Capital is being extended till May 24. This is the fourth extension of the lockdown, which began on the night of April 19.

Delhi on Monday began the fifth phase of a complete lockdown, which was announced last month to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). The announcement that the lockdown is being extended was made by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday during his visit to a Covid-19 health facility set up outside the government-run Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital in the Capital.

Private security guards rest in front of closed shop during a lockdown imposed by the government amidst rising Covid-19 coronavirus cases, in New Delhi on May 16, 2021. (Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP)

“The lockdown is being extended till 5am next Monday,” Kejriwal announced while interacting with the media. The complete shutdown was initially announced by the chief minister on April 19, and came into effect at 10pm on the same night. The city was to exit the lockdown at 5am on April 26; however, the restrictions were subsequently extended till May 3, May 10 May 17, and, for now, till May 24.

Last month’s lockdown announcement came on the back of a weekend curfew which was imposed in Delhi as the city-state began witnessing a sharp rise in its daily Covid-19 cases, as well as deaths per day due to the viral disease.

Hours after Kejriwal announced that the lockdown is being extended, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) tweeted that Metro services shall remain suspended “till further notice,” adding that “any change in services will be notified.” The Metro services were suspended during the fourth phase of the lockdown, on the instructions of CM Kejriwal.

Later in the day on Sunday, the latest medical bulletin from the health department showed that Delhi registered 6,456 fresh infections from the preceding 24 hours, with a positivity rate of 10.40%. In the same period, 262 lives were lost to the disease, the bulletin showed, while 9,706 people were discharged after recovering. The cumulative infection tally stands at 1,393,867, including 1,309,578 recoveries, 62,783 active cases and 21,506 related deaths.

This was for the third straight day that Delhi saw less than 10,000 cases and second straight day that there were less than 7,000 infections. On Friday and Saturday, the Capital’s Covid-19 tally rose by 8,506 and 6,430 cases respectively.