No plan of another lockdown in Delhi, says Kejriwal

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said that his government is not thinking about another lockdown in the city amid a significant surge of Covid cases in the last few weeks.

Addressing a digital press conference after chairing an emergency meeting called in view of the surging cases, he said: "This time, Covid-19 cases are increasing faster than last time but the Delhi government has so far not thought about imposing a lockdown again in the city. If needed in the future, I would talk to the people and will then take any decision on it."

He also stressed that people do not need to panic but must follow the Covid-19 guidelines issued by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA).

Kejriwal also said though the numbers of cases are increasing fast this time but are not as serious as the last wave.

"It has been observed that during October-November (last year) when around 3,000 cases were emerging daily, of them around 1,500-1,700 patients were referred to ICU wards... however, this time serious cases have come down to around 50 percent."

The emergency meeting was called by the Chief Minister to take stock of preparation by the Health Department for the situation. Delhi on Thursday reported 2,790 cases.