With India’s new Covid-19 cases declining, is it time for New Delhi to emerge from lockdown?

Name: India passes 300,000 coronavirus deaths as mass graves found along Ganges
Uploaded: 2021-05-26T08:30:16.000Z
Duration: 2 min 11 s
Description: India passes 300,000 coronavirus deaths as mass graves found along Ganges

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal says the situation is ‘vastly improved’ as the capital reports 1,500 new cases per day, down from 28,000 in April

But while shopkeepers and traders are pressuring him to lift the lockdown on June 1, experts are urging caution

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A Covid-19 patient uses an oxygen mask at a temporary care centre in New Delhi. Photo: DPA

Amrit Dhillon

Published: 4:30pm, 26 May 2021Updated: 1:25pm, 27 May 2021

As India slowly begins to emerge from the horrors of its second Covid-19 wave, it looks as though New Delhi may on June 1 become the first city to take tentative steps out of lockdown.

After extending its sweeping coronavirus restrictions on a week-by-week basis from April 19, the capital’s government is feeling more confident that the decline in new cases suggests the worst might be over.

New Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal this week said the situation was “vastly improved”, with the city’s positivity rate falling steadily throughout May from 36 per cent at the height of the surge to its current 2.5 per cent.

India is reporting just under 200,000 fresh Covid-19 cases per day, its lowest tally since April 14, while the capital’s 1,500 or so new cases per day are the lowest since March 27 – down from a high of 28,000 daily cases last month. If cases continue to decline, experts say, Kejriwal may decide over the weekend to open up.

He is under pressure to do so from shopkeepers and traders who have been reeling from lockdown losses. Khan Market, a popular shopping and dining destination for affluent residents, is prime real estate. Traders here have massive rents to pay, along with property taxes and fixed charges.

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India passes 300,000 coronavirus deaths as mass graves found along Ganges

“We have been asking Kejriwal to open in a staggered manner. You see, people aren’t stupid. They aren’t going to throng markets the day you open. They are going to quickly do their chores and go home,” said Sanjiv Mehta, president of the Khan Market Traders’ Association.

He has a point. If few people are going to be rushing out, it’s because residents have been traumatised by their horrific experiences over the past two months. Barely any families have been untouched by suffering, death or the anguish of having relatives in intensive care units, often for weeks. Many families have had several members sick with the coronavirus.