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‘Don't worry’: CM Kejriwal promises no lockdown in Delhi amid Covid-19 spread
Kejriwal also took stock of the Covid-19 preparations at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP) during the day.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday assured the citizens of the national capital of not imposing a lockdown even as Covid-19 cases continued to see an exponential rise over the past few days in wake of the emergence of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
Kejriwal further said he had requested Central government officials to extend restrictions to the entire National Capital Region (NCR) during the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) meeting held on Monday.
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“About 22,000 Covid-19 cases with a positivity rate of 24-25% in the last few days...Don't worry, we will not impose lockdown...At the DDMA meet we requested Central govt officials to cover the entire NCR for restrictions, they assured us on the same,” news agency ANI quoted Kejriwal as saying.
Kejriwal also took stock of the Covid-19 preparations at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP) during the day. "It is the country's best hospital. It has treated over 22,000 patients so far," he said later. The chief minister further said, "Delhi has the capacity to set up 37,000 beds with 11,000 ICU beds."
Most cases of coronavirus during the third wave are showing mild symptoms unlike the second wave, which was caused by the Delta variant, he said, adding the Omicron variant of Covid-19 is less virulent but highly contagious.
Meanwhile, the DDMA on Tuesday ordered the closure of restaurants and bars, and asked private offices, except those engaged in essential services, to shift to work from home (WFH) mode amid massive a surge in Covid-19 cases.
The order came as the positivity rate in the Capital reached 25 per cent after 19,166 fresh Covid-19 cases were logged on Monday, around 3,500 fewer than Sunday’s count of 22,751.
This drop was likely due to lower testing usually on Sundays and public holidays.
