"Delhi will begin unlocking slowly from Monday," says Arvind Kejriwal

Mangalore Today News Network / NDTV

New Delhi, May 28, 2021:      Delhi will begin unlocking gradually from Monday, thanks to the efforts of the two crore people of the city which helped bring under control the second COVID-19 wave, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said today.

 

"In the past 24 hours, the positivity rate has been around 1.5 per cent with only 1,100 new cases being reported. This is the time to unlock lest people escape corona only to die of hunger," Mr Kejriwal said.

"Today there was a meeting with the disaster management authority. To avoid losing the advantage gained in the past month, everyone is of the opinion that the opening up must be slow. There has to be some balance," he said.

The Chief Minister said the unlocking’s focus, at least initially, ought to be on daily wagers and the sectors that involve such labour. This category of personnel are usually found in the construction field and in factories, he pointed out.

Beginning Monday, productive units will be allowed to function in industrial areas within confines or manufacturing premises. In specified compounds, workers will also be allowed to carry out construction activities.

"Every week, based on suggestions from citizens and expert opinion, we will keep opening up progressively. If the rate of infection increases again, we will put the unlocking on hold. So everyone must maintain caution," Mr Kejriwal said.

He reiterated that the lockdown was imposed under compulsions not as a choice, so people must not venture out of home unnecessarily.

Delhi is among the states to have been the worst hit by the devastating second Covid wave in the past few months. The sudden influx of patients from the state and even nearby regions overwhelmed its medical infrastructure -- a sequence that was witnessed in several other parts of the country, too.

Big and small medical facilities of Delhi began to give up as basic resources like oxygen, beds, drugs, and vaccine ran out. Court cases were fought over supplies to the city and the Centre and other state governments became involved over diversion of stocks meant for the national capital.