Lockdown in Delhi? CM Arvind Kejriwal makes Big announcement amid Omicron scare

Amid rising fears over new COVID-19 variant Omicron, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Monday (December 6) said that his goverment is fully prepared to tackle the threat of Omicron.

“There is no need to panic. I am monitoring the situation continuously. I request you all to maintain social distancing and wear masks. Wearing masks is very important… In review meetings, we have worked on the availability of beds, medicine and oxygen,” CM Kejriwal said, adding that there is now plan to impose lockdown in Delhi.

In a related development, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said there was no plan to impose lockdown in Delhi “at the moment” due to COVID-19. Jain added that the Delhi government will instead adopt a Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) based on the number of COVID-19 cases.

It may be recalled that Delhi government had finalised the graded plan in July after the deadly second wave in April-May. The graded plan will be implemented if the positivity rate crosses 0.5%.

“… In this system, when the positivity rate reaches 0.5%, that is five are positive out of 1,000 people tested, then the first level of this system will be implemented. The second level will be implemented when we will reach a positivity rate of 1%, that is if 10 people test positive out of 1,000.

The third level will be implemented at a positivity rate of 2%, when 20 people test positive out of a testing sample of 1,000 people; and the last stage or the red level will be initiated when we reach a positivity rate of 5%, meaning that when 50 people test positive out of 1,000 tested. Last time, the red level was implemented when we had reached a positivity rate of about 14-15%,” Jain said.

“However, at present, Covid cases in Delhi are much below 0.5%, so no lockdown will be imposed right now,” he added.

Meanwhile, 63 coronavirus cases were recorded in Delhi on Sunday, the highest in four months. The positivity rate was 0.11%. It is to be noted that Delhi recorded its first case of Omicron variant on Sunday.