6-day lockdown in Delhi starting Monday night
NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a six-day lockdown from 10 pm on Monday till 5 am on April 26, saying it was a necessary step to deal with the rising number of COVID-19 cases as the city’s health system was stretched to its limits. The lockdown is needed to prevent the health system of Delhi from collapsing under the increasing number of patients as there is an acute shortage of medicines, beds, ICUs and oxygen, Kejriwal said. Delhi has been reporting around 25,000 cases daily.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a six-day lockdown from 10 pm on Monday night till 5 am next Monday in view of an exponential rise in corona virus cases and the city’s health system being stretched to its limits.
In the last few days, the daily cases of COVID-19 have been around 25,500 and the health system in Delhi is under tremendous pressure, he said while addressing an online press conference. The lockdown is needed to prevent the health system of Delhi from collapsing under the increasing number of patients as there is an acute shortage of medicines, beds, ICUs and oxygen, Kejriwal said. Noting that decision to impose lockdown was not an easy one, Kejriwal appealed to migrants not to leave Delhi.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday said the “lockdown-like restrictions” imposed in the state are meant to control the alarming surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths, and not create panic among people, including labourers. He said the situation was “very alarming and dangerous” and the decision to impose the restrictions was taken after a review meeting. DGP ML Lather said that since there are several categories of exemptions, the movement of people on roads was not much restricted.
HC oders shutdown in UP cities
Amid a surge in coronavirus cases, the Allahabad High Court on Monday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to impose a week-long lockdown in Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur Nagar, Gorakhpur and Allahabad. A bench comprising justices Siddhartha Varma and Ajit Kumar passed the order on a PIL on condition of quarantine centres.
“We are of the considered view that in given scenario of present time if people are restrained from going outside their homes for a week in the first instance, the current chain of spread of COVID infection can be broken and this will also give some respite to the frontline medical and health workers.” the bench observed.