Extend Delhi Lockdown Till May 15: Traders Body to Kejriwal Govt as COVID Continues to Wreak Havoc

KEY STORY

• As the coronavirus infection continues to wreak havoc across the national capital, Traders’ body, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has asked the Delhi government to extend Delhi’s lockdown till 15 May. Earlier on April 19, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had decided to put the capital city under a week-long lockdown. Later, the Delhi government decided to extend the shutdown for another week till May 3. However, given the capital’s deteriorated health infrastructure, the trade association has demanded a longer lockdown.

• In its letter to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi on April 29, CAIT said, “The continued rapid increase of covid cases in Delhi and proportional non-availability of required medical facilities have worsened the situation and we understand it may take time to restore normalcy in Delhi with the efforts of your government.

• Keeping this fact into consideration, a meeting of prominent trade associations was held at Delhi yesterday…where it has been unanimously resolved to request you for extension of lockdown in Delhi beyond 3 May and the same may be extended unto 15 May 2021”

• The traders’ body has asserted that the present situation in Delhi is highly chaotic, horrible and grim, thus an extension is needed to break the chain of transmission.

CONCLUSION

“Opening shops in such a dilapidated situation can create further troubles for the traders. If any of the traders, their employees or customers gets infected with Covid-19, then under the present condition, it will be difficult to get medical treatment in Delhi,” the statement added.

The CAIT’s demand to extent lockdown comes as Delhi continues to report over 20,000 cases. In the last 24 hours, the capital city saw 24,235 new COVID-19 cases, 395 deaths. This was the eighth day in a row that Delhi has recorded over 300 deaths due to COVID-19. The cumulative case count in the city stands at 11,22,286, of which over 10.08 lakh have recovered. The death toll due to the viral disease stands at 15,772.