The Delhi Government has extended the lockdown for another week till next Monday to prevent the spread of Covid-19. This will be the fourth extension of the lockdown in the national Capital to contain the life-threatening disease.

As per the order, the movement of people and economic activities are prohibited during the lockdown period, with exemptions for those engaged in essential services. The Delhi Metro services shall also remain suspended till further notice in the wake of the extension of the curfew and any change in services will be notified.

Delhi has reported around 6,500 cases and the positivity rate has come down to 10 from 11 per cent in the last 24 hours, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday.

He added that the number of Covid cases is decreasing in Delhi and recovery has increased but still the Government does not want to lose this advantage achieved during the lockdown period.

The Government had announced a weekend curfew in Delhi on April 19 that later turned into a full lockdown from the next day amid the rising number of cases and a high positivity rate.

The Chief Minister said that the decision to extend the lockdown further was taken considering the gain achieved during the period.

 “I hope that there will be faster recovery next week due to the lockdown. No concessions will be given and residents are requested to follow Covid protocols diligently in order to break the chain,” he said.

The national Capital reported 262 more coronavirus deaths and 6,456 infections on Saturday, the lowest since April 7, with a positivity rate of 10.40 per cent. This is the third consecutive day when Delhi has recorded less than 10,000 cases. Medical experts have attributed the lockdown as the main factor behind the dip in infections.

Also, the smaller number of new cases was due to the relatively fewer tests (62,059) that were conducted on Saturday.

Talking about the vaccine shortage in Delhi, he said: “We have written to both, the Central Government and the two companies which manufacture Covaxin and Covishield and requested them to provide us vaccines. But there has not been any positive indication till now.”

He also said that the Delhi Government will take all the steps and all the precautions necessary to deal with the black fungus which is also known as Mucormycosis.