Lockdown extended by one week: Kejriwal
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday announced that the lockdown in Delhi has been extended by one week, i.e., May 31till 5 am.
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He also said if the cases continue to decline at this pace, the Delhi government will start the unlock process in a phased manner. He also appealed to the Delhiites to support the government and adhere to the lockdown this week same as before.
He said that Delhi has to be completely prepared for the third wave of Corona, and it is the Delhi government’s first and foremost agenda that vaccines are administered to protect people from the third wave.
He said that it is the top priority of the Delhi government to figure how to vaccinate the 2.5 crore people of Delhi within 3 months, but there is a paucity of vaccines. He said that the Delhi government is ready to spend whatever budget is required for the procurement of vaccines.
Kejriwal said: “Every week, on Sunday, all of us, the people of Delhi come to decide whether the lockdown has to be extended or not and by how long. The current lockdown is going to end tomorrow at 5 am. Today again all of us have to decide whether we should unlock or not. In the month of April, when the second wave emerged, it was an extremely dangerous wave.
“Delhi was the first region to witness the danger of the second wave and the lockdown was first imposed in Delhi. When the wave had emerged and the cases were rising rapidly, we did not know how long the wave would persist, nor did we know whether we would be able to gain the victory of this wave or anything else.
“But, within one month, we imposed a lockdown on April 20, within approximately one month, because of the discipline of the people of Delhi and because of the hard work and struggle of the people of Delhi, today this wave of coronavirus which was the deadliest of all till date seems to be declining. I will not say that we have won the battle. There is still a lot left to be won over. But now it seems that we are gaining control over the situation.”
He said: “The battle is pending and is not over yet. Even now more than 1000 cases are emerging. So in the past 24 hours, I asked a lot of people as to what should be done. Whatever decision is to be taken, will be taken collectively by the people of Delhi. A general opinion is that the lockdown should be extended for another week.
“If we are to lift the lockdown right now then whatever we have gained after a struggle, hard work, and sacrifice of 1 month might be lost. So, it is a general opinion that the lockdown should be extended by 1 more week. Therefore the Delhi government has decided that the lockdown will be extended by one week. The lockdown will be extended till the next Monday, 31st May at 5 AM.
“It is my appeal and request that the way you have supported till date, the way you have continued to adhere to the lockdown, maintaining strict discipline and if you continue to maintain this in the future too and keep following the coronavirus protocols, if the cases continue to decline at the same speed in the next week, then we will start the unlock process from 31st May.
“It won’t be wise to immediately unlock so we will start unlocking certain processes from 31st May. But right now, as per everyone’s response, the opinion of the people of Delhi, we are going to increase the lockdown by one week.”
