NEW DELHI :The Delhi government will likely extend the weekend lockdown as the national capital has been reporting a record surge in daily coronavirus cases, sources say.
The decision is expected to be announced after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal’s meeting over the Covid situation Monday at 11 AM.
According to sources, the Delhi government is mulling to extend the weekend lockdown to weekdays as the national capital has witnessed a steep rise in the number of fresh Covid-19 cases.

A final decision in this regard will be taken at a high-level meeting between Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal scheduled to take place on Monday at 11 am.
The sources further said that more restrictions could be announced after the crucial meeting tomorrow between Kejriwal and Baijal.
The curfew began at 10pm on Friday and will continue till 6am on Monday, while essential services were exempted from the curbs. According to the new directives, shopping malls, gyms, spas, auditoriums, assembly halls, entertainment parks and similar public places were shut. While cinemas and theatres were allowed to operate on 30 per cent capacity, restaurants and other eateries will only provide take-away and home delivery services.

Kejriwal had said that the pandemic situation in the city has become “very serious and worrisome”, with oxygen stock, and Remdesivir and Tocilizumab drugs for patients in short supply. He said the number of beds are also running out fast and the Delhi government is trying to escalate beds on a large scale in the coming days.
Delhi on Sunday recorded the biggest jump in its daily Covid-19 tally with 25,462 fresh cases, and 161 people died due to the disease in the last 24 hours, while the positivity rate also shot up to 29.74 per cent. Around 20,159 people have recovered from the infection. There are a total of 74,941 active cases in the national capital and the death toll jumped to 12,121.
Kejriwal had last week announced a weekend curfew to curb a worrying surge in Covid-19 cases in Delhi. Kejriwal said in a video address, “The weekend curfew will break the Covid-19 chain in Delhi. These curbs are for your safety. We will beat this fourth Covid-19 wave with your help.

Mr Kejriwal on Friday said that the rapidly increasing caseload had been exerting tremendous pressure on the national capital’s health infrastructure.
“The situation is very serious and worrisome. Cases have gone up really fast. That is why we are facing shortages even though everything seemed under control until a few days ago. But the speed at which this corona is growing, no one knows where its peak will be,” he said in a virtual address.
Mr Kejriwal said the national capital had been experiencing shortages of hospital beds, drugs and medical oxygen.
“Any health infrastructure has limitations. The government is trying its best to increase the number of beds. I hope that we will be able to add 6,000 more beds in the next two to four days,” he added.
(With Media Reports).

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