Kejriwal rules out lockdown in Delhi, but strict restrictions will continue

'The positivity rate has been around 24-25 per cent for the past two days. We are enforcing strict restrictions like night curfew in Delhi out of compulsion,' says Delhi CM

The Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday ruled out lockdown in the city.

Speaking to reporters, CM Kejriwal said, "We are expecting that the city would report somewhere around 20,000-22,000 new COVID-19 cases in Delhi. The positivity rate has been around 24-25 per cent for the past two days. We are enforcing strict restrictions like night curfew in Delhi out of compulsion."

The Chief Minister and Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jai visited LNJP hospital to take stock of preparation to combat the spread of COVID-19 in the city.

He further said that most cases of coronavirus during the third wave are showing mild symptoms unlike the second wave, which was caused by the life-taking Delta variant. Omicron variant of COVID-19 is less virulent but highly contagious, he added.

Talking about the COVID-19 patients admitted to the LNJP hospital, he said, "Out of the 136 patients, 130 came to hospital for getting treatment of other diseases and contracted the virus incidentally."

He further added, "Delhi has the capacity to set up 37,000 beds with 11,000 ICU beds."

The Delhi CM requested the Central Government representatives, who attended the DDMA meeting, to enforce restrictions in the NCR region also.