Delhi government has imposed a complete lockdown in Delhi from Monday night (April 19) till next Monday morning (April 26), in the wake of a record rise in COVID-19 cases. The six day lockdown in the national capital will come into force from 10 pm tonight till 5 am next Monday, CM Arvind Kejriwal announced.
Kejriwal made the formal announcement regarding the complete lockdown in Delhi following a meeting between Lieutenant Anil Baijal and CM Kejriwal on Monday (April 19) morning.
The national capital had on Sunday, April 18, registered the highest spike in its daily coronavirus tally with 25,462 new cases, along with a positivity rate of around 30%, meaning one in three samples being tested in Delhi is turning out to be positive.
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The national capital was under a complete weekend curfew from April 16 till Monday (April 19) morning.
CM Kejriwal had on April 15 announced sweeping restrictions in Delhi, including a weekend curfew and the closure of malls, gymnasiums, spas, and auditoriums, in a bid to break the chain of the COVID-19 infection in the national capital.
He also said there is no shortage of hospital beds in Delhi and over 5,000 are still available for COVID patients.
Kejriwal said the reason behind imposing a weekend curfew was that over the weekend, people often indulged in recreation and other such activities that could be "curtailed" and "curbed" without much inconvenience to them.
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Delhi has already imposed a complete night curfew in the city from 10 pm to 5 am till April 30 in a bid to check the spread of the coronavirus.
Kejriwal said the number of cases is rising every day in Delhi and restrictions were needed to check the spread of the virus.