The Indian capital, New Delhi, will remain confined for an additional week due to the outbreak of coronavirus contaminations, authorities in the megalopolis announced on Saturday.
“The confinement in New Delhi is extended for a week,” said Arvind Kejriwal, the city’s head of government, on Twitter.
Containment was originally scheduled to end on Monday, but the number of new cases continues to rise rapidly in the huge city of 20 million people.
According to the latest figures from the Ministry of Health, New Delhi has recorded 27,000 new cases and 375 deaths in the past 24 hours.
But with a positivity rate reaching almost 33% in coronavirus tests, experts believe the real numbers are much higher.
Hospitals in the city are inundated with sick people, leading to shortages of beds, medicines and oxygen with often fatal consequences for many people, who die in front of establishments without being able to be treated.
Most of New Delhi’s cemeteries are now full and many crematoriums are in continuous operation, sometimes burning bodies on vacant lots or parking lots.
Nationally, India recorded more than 400,000 new cases on Saturday – the first country to achieve such a toll within 24 hours.
In April, it recorded more than 7 million new coronavirus infections.
