Health minister Satyendar Jain speak about Delhi Lockdown after reports over 10,000 cases

Delhi reported 10,665 coronavirus cases today, a massive rise of 94% in daily cases compared to yesterday. The number of Covid patients shot up from 5481 to 10,665, the biggest single-day spike since May 12. After reports over 10,000 cases health minister Satyendar Jain said about Delhi Lockdown.

A day after Delhi Disaster Management Authority imposed a weekend curfew and the city saw the number of fresh Covid-19 cases jump nearly 95% to 10,665, state health minister Satyendar Jain said there were no plans to impose a lockdown for the time being. The national capital also saw 8 deaths in the last 24 hours, the highest since June 26.

The positivity rate shot up to 11.88 per cent, officials said. On Tuesday, the city had recorded 5,481 fresh cases, almost half of Wednesday’s count, and a case positivity rate of 8.37 per cent. The Delhi government announced a weekend curfew on Tuesday to curb the sharp spike in the number of cases.

“There will be no lockdown in Delhi for the time being,” he told reporters on Wednesday, adding that construction work would continue as usual and labourers need not panic. “Some restrictions have been imposed in the interest of public health. Delhi has taken the most stringent steps in the country to stop the coronavirus, such as weekend curfew and closing of schools and colleges,” he said.

With Covid infection surging dramatically, Delhi government cancelled all leaves granted to its officials and employees in all its departments and offices, except medical leave. It said on Wednesday that government officials and staff would not be granted any fresh leave and have been barred from ‘leaving station’ until further orders. On Tuesday, DDMA had imposed a weekend curfew in the city, even as it also allowed more passengers to travel by Delhi Metro and public buses to curb crowding outside stations and at bus stops.

The authority also ordered the closure of Delhi government and municipal corporation offices, except those providing essential services. The office memorandum issued by Delhi government’s services department said the DDMA order “brings out the grimness of the situation” and has mentioned further steps to contain the spread of the disease.

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The memorandum said that DDMA had identified essential and emergency services that will continue to function during the curfew period and had also ordered all officials to work from home during the period of the closure.