Covid-19: Lockdown extended in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Puducherry

Lockdown was extended on Sunday in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Puducherry, with many states already imposing COVID-induced restrictions till May-end to rein in the spread of infection and the mounting deaths which crossed the three lakh mark. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that the ongoing lockdown in the national capital will continue for another week and said the process of "unlock" will start from May 31 in a phased manner if the number of COVID-19 cases continues to decline. The Rajasthan government, which extended the coronavirus lockdown by 15 days till June 8, also said the state may allow some relaxations in commercial activities from June 1 in districts where the COVID-19 situation will show significant improvement. Extending the lockdown till May 31, the Haryana government said the positivity and fatality rates have to be brought down further, though it did allow some relaxations in the curbs. The daily rise in coronavirus cases in India remained below the three lakh mark for the seventh consecutive day with 2.4 lakh new cases recorded in a single day, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday. With the fresh cases, India's tally of COVID-19 cases climbed to 2,65,30,132. The death toll due to the disease rose to 2,99,266 with 3,741 fresh fatalities, the ministry data updated at 8 AM showed. In the past 24 hours, Delhi recorded around 1,600 positive cases and the positivity rate went further down to below 2.5 percent, Kejriwal said in an online briefing. Haryana State Chief Secretary Vijai Vardhan, in an order, said the lockdown, which was earlier imposed till May 24, has been extended till May 31. However certain relaxations were given like standalone shops have been allowed to function during the day. The other shops, except in malls, are allowed to open from 7 AM to 12 PM on an odd-even basis. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan too had Saturday announced that the coronavirus-induced restrictions in the state would be gradually relaxed from the next month. .Lockdown-like restrictions have been extended up to May 31 in most of the districts including Bhopal. Meanwhile, Odisha is under lockdown till June 1. The Uttar Pradesh government had also extended partial corona curfew till 7 AM May 31 on Saturday. Among the southern states, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Telangana have extended their lockdown this month, while Andhra Pradesh will continue to have curfew. The Puducherry government on Sunday announced the extension of the ongoing lockdown till May 31 as COVID-19 cases continue to soar in the union territory. In the Northeast, the Mizoram government has extended total lockdown in Aizawl and other district headquarters till May 31. Nagaland, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh have extended the restrictions till month-end. Jammu and Kashmir administration has extended the corona curfew till May 31 morning.