New Delhi : In a bid to contain the deadly Covid virus spread, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has extended the lockdown in Delhi by another week till 5 am on May 17.Emphasizing that the Covid positivity rate has gone down marginally, the CM in his address said that the lockdown must be extended to ensure that the city does not let its guard down. The CM also noted that the lockdown period will be utilized by the state to enhance the healthcare infrastructure. “The main issue in Delhi was oxygen shortage. With Centre’s help, the condition is better now," the Chief Minister said.

As per sources, the positivity rate, which stood at 35 percent in mid-April, has dropped to 23 percent. However, health experts are of the opinion that despite the dip, the current positivity rate is quite high and there is a need for stricter curbs to break the chain of transmission. With this extension, Delhi would be entering its fourth week of lockdown amid the Covid crisis. Among other curbs, the metro services will also be suspended in this phase of the curfew.

Earlier, the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had chaired a high-level meeting to review the Covid-19 situation in the national capital on Friday. During the meeting, Kejriwal pointed out that Delhi’s precarious situation with regard to the availability of oxygen was coming under control and therefore beds across government and private hospitals should be increased. The chief minister also stressed that no life must be lost due to oxygen shortage and distribution bottlenecks within the capital be ironed out.

Taking exception to the fact that oximeters were still not supplied to many in-home isolations, Kejriwal directed that the same be ensured. The district magistrates were given the responsibility of ensuring that no life was lost due to lack of oxygen in their respective districts. Over the past two weeks, Delhi lost a staggering 5,546 lives with hospitals sending desperate SOS calls through social media, phone calls and even moving the court. After repeated orders by the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court that the central government must ensure a supply of 700MT of oxygen per day in the capital, it was only once that Delhi was supplied 730 MT of oxygen- on May 5. However, the next day, supplies dipped to 577 MT.

Along with oxygen, many states have also flagged the unavailability of vaccines which serves as a glimmer of hope for the countrymen as India grapples with the second wave of Covid. India logged in 4,03,738 fresh Covid cases and 4,092 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the overall Covid tally to 2.22 crore. Notably, the country saw over 4 lakh daily infections for the fourth time in a week and over 4,000 deaths for the second straight day.