Delhi paid price for Markaz event, rues Kejriwal
The Delhi Government is not going to relax the lockdown for at least a week as the Covid-19 spread appears to have gained pace in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday.
Asserting that the decision has been taken to save lives, Kejriwal said even though Delhi accounts for 2 per cent of India’s population, the cases account for 12 per cent of the total cases in the country. Delhi has 77 containment zones, with 2 more added on Sunday, which have been sealed.
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.
“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,” the CM said during a video conference.
Kejriwal said Delhi paid the price for the markaz event where thousands of Tablighi Jamaat followers attended an event during the lockdown.
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 decision to prolong the restrictions came a day after the Delhi Government added eight new containment zones, increasing their total to 77, and as the number of Covid-19 cases neared 1,900 in the city.