Delhi, the capital of India, will be closed for a week until next Monday, April 26, the chief minister announced on Monday.
“If we don’t put a closure now we can end up in a tragedy,” said Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi’s chief minister.
As part of the blockade, there will be a curfew from the movement, from 22:00 local time this Monday until 05:00 on 26 April. However, suppliers of essential products and services will be exempt from this rule.
All private offices and establishments, such as shops, malls, gyms, movie theaters and swimming pools, will remain closed, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority said on Monday.
Delhi faces shortage of medical resources: Kejriwal said the city was facing a severe shortage of beds, oxygen supply and remdesivir injections.
He acknowledged the situation was bleak, adding that a hospital “somehow organized oxygen on time” when it almost ran out at 3 a.m. Sunday morning.
The city administration has been taking a number of steps to increase health infrastructure, including the conversion of sports complexes, hotels and schools into Covid-19 care centers.
On Sunday, Kejriwal said up to 2,000 oxygen beds will be added over the next two days at Delhi’s Yamuna Sports Complex.
Delhi reported 25,462 new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases in the city to 853,460. At least 12,121 people have also died from the virus, according to the Delhi health department.