Coronavirus spreading in Delhi, won't relax lockdown just yet: Kejriwal

The Delhi government will not relax the lockdown for at least a week as the coronavirus spread appears to have gained pace, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday, stressing that the national capital has "borne the maximum burnt" while containing the crisis. Citing instances of asymptomatic people testing positive for the virus, Kejriwal said out of 736 samples collected recently, 186 were found infected by COVID-19 and the people did not know they were carrying the virus. He said rapid testing of all people engaged in food distribution at government-run centres will be carried out after one of them tested positive.

Kejriwal, however, assured the situation is under control and his government will reassess it after a week to see what relaxations can be given. An order by Chief Secretary Vijay Dev said the administration will review the situation on April 27. "The situation of COVID-19 has been assessed, and in the view of the present scenario, it appears to be necessary to maintain status quo in larger public interest,” it said. On Saturday, the Delhi government had also issued an order to maintain status-quo in the functioning of its departments. There are 70 Delhi government departments which have 1,500 offices.

Meanwhile, all central government's deputy secretary level officers and above will join office from Monday. While addressing an online briefing, Kejriwal cited the Tablighi Jamaat congregation last month, a major hotspot, and the large inflow of travellers from other countries to Delhi as the reasons for the spread of the virus, and said Delhi was "fighting a difficult battle". “Delhi bore the maximum burnt (sabse zyaada maar Delhi ko bardhasht karni paadi),” he said, citing the inflow of people from abroad. “Delhi also bore the brunt due to the markaz incident," he said. The chief minister also acknowledged the difficulties faced by people during the lockdown. “We want to relax it. But if we give relaxations and there is a shortage of ICU, ventilators, oxygen in hospitals and people lose their lives, we won't be able to forgive ourselves," Kejriwal said.             “Had there been no lockdown, the situation here would have been similar to Italy and Spain," he warned, stressing that Delhi has 2 per cent of the country's population but 12 per cent of the total COVID-19 cases.             Kejriwal said there are roughly 1,900 coronavirus cases in Delhi, of which 26 are currently in intensive care and six on ventilator support. According to a PTI tally, Delhi has maximum number of COVID-19 cases after Maharashtra.              The Delhi government also increased the COVID-19 containment zones to 78. In a containment zone, people are not allowed to step out of their homes and essential items are delivered at their doorsteps by the government.

Talking about the asymptotic cases, Kejriwal said, "When we talked to one of them, he said he was engaged in serving food at a government-run centre. I have ordered for rapid testing of all those who visited the centre. We will also do rapid testing of all people engaged in food distribution at government-run centres.”             He has previously said his government has been serving food to around 10 lakh people daily..