Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday announced that the Delhi government will start the Unlock process in Delhi in a phased manner, given the decrease in the number of Coronavirus cases in Delhi.

He said that construction activities and factories will start from Monday for the next week, because construction and other workers in Delhi have been the most affected due to the lockdown.

He said that in the past 24 hours, the infection rate has come down to 1.5% and around 1100 cases have emerged, infection rate and Corona cases are declining day by day. He appealed to the people to not step out of their homes unless absolutely necessary, to prevent another surge in Corona cases in Delhi.

CM Arvind Kejriwal said, “The coronavirus cases are rapidly declining in Delhi and it is the hard work of the 2-crore people of Delhi that within one month we have been able to control the second wave. In the past 24 hours, the infection rate has come down to 1.5% and around 1100 cases have emerged. Slowly cases are declining every day, the infection rate is also declining. There is no longer any problem in getting beds in hospitals and even the ICU beds are empty, oxygen beds have also been emptied. Quite a few beds are now also available in the Covid Care Centres that we had opened up. So this is the time to slowly unlock. It should not be the case that the people who are saved from Coronavirus struggle due to hunger. So we need to maintain a balance where we have to control Coronavirus on one hand and allow as much economic activity as possible on the other hand.

He said, “This lockdown is till Monday, 5 am. Today, under the leadership of the Lieutenant Governor, a DDMA (Delhi Disaster Management Authority) meeting was conducted wherein certain decisions have been taken. Firstly, slowly and steadily we are going to begin the process of opening up the lockdown. With great effort and with great difficulty, the Coronavirus situation has somewhat come under control. But the entire battle has not been won yet. We should not lose all the gains of the previous lockdown by suddenly opening up the lockdown. Thus, it is a unanimous belief amongst the experts that the lockdown be opened up slowly and steadily.”

He added, “During unlocking, we have to take the utmost care of those who belong to the lower sections of the society, that is the labourers, daily wage workers, migrant labourers. Labourers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and the neighboring states come to Delhi to earn their livelihoods, they live on daily wages and in dire conditions. Such workers are found mostly in construction activities and factories. So today it was decided in the meeting that both these activities will be opened up from Monday when this lockdown gets over at 5 am, and for the next one week, construction activities and factories will remain open. The details can be understood from the order that will come as to what precautions are to be followed.”

CM Arvind Kejriwal said, “Week after week, based on public suggestions and expert’s opinion, we will continue the unlock procedure given that the Coronavirus does not increase any further. If we see that the Coronavirus increases again then we will have to halt the unlock procedure. Therefore, it is my request to everyone to follow the corona-protocols necessary for both – your safety, your family’s safety, for your health, for your life and secondly, if everyone observes precautions only then can more economic activities open up in Delhi. If the coronavirus cases increase again, we will have no option but to impose the lockdown again, we do not want to impose a lockdown and we are not in favour of a lockdown. Even you would not want a lockdown, but it is out of helplessness that we have to impose it. Additionally, please do not step out of your homes unnecessarily. Only step out if necessary. This is a very sensitive time and we have to function with full responsibility so that we can together save our Delhi and our country.”