Six-day complete lockdown in Delhi from tonight, essential services exempted: CM Kejriwal

Delhi Lockdown Update: Amid an exponential rise in Covid-19 cases, Delhi has been placed under lockdown from tonight till next Monday morning (April 26), Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Monday. The restrictions will remain in place from 10 PM tonight till 5 AM next Monday. Kejriwal said that city's health system is under stress, adding that hospitals are facing shortage of oxygen and ICU beds.

"I appeal to Delhiites to follow lockdown which is necessary to reduce COVID cases. We will improve health system during this time," he said.

The decision was taken during a meeting attended by CM Kejriwal, L-G Anil Baijal, Delhi Police Commissioner SN Srivastava, Delhi's deputy CM Manish Sisodia, Health Minister Satyendra Jain and other officials. Sources told India TV that a decision on extending the curfew for one more week was proposed by Kejriwal which the L-G approved. The city government had last week announced curfew on weekend to arrest the spread of virus.

Essential services, however, will be exempted during the weeklong curfew, sources said, adding that all private and government offices will work remotely.

As the situation turned serious every passing hour, Kejriwal shot off letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal urging them to ramp up bed capacity in central government-run hospitals and to ensure uninterrupted supply of medical oxygen.

"The COVID situation has become very serious in Delhi. There is a huge shortage of beds and oxygen. I request that at least 7,000 out of 10,000 beds in central government hospitals in Delhi be reserved for COVID patients and oxygen be immediately provided in Delhi," he wrote in the letter to PM Modi.

Meanwhile, the city government on Monday deployed two teams of officers to monitor procurement and supply of oxygen and the Remdesivir drug amid a shortage of both following an exponential rise in COVID-19 cases.