Coronavirus: Arvind Kejriwal said Delhi has 23 coronavirus patients in hospital now.
Three days into the lockdown in Delhi, the national capital reported five fresh cases of coronavirus, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said today. The new figures take the number of active cases to 28. Across the country, 606 people have tested positive for the virus, of whom ten died. One of the deaths took place in Delhi.
The fresh cases surfaced after nearly two days of lull. Last evening, Mr Kejriwal had said no new patient had come "in the last 40 hours".
"Of the 30 patients, some patients have gone home. There are only 23 patients now," he had said.
Given the high number of coronavirus cases in the capital -- one person had died earlier -- the Chief Minister and Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal had declared a complete lockdown in Delhi.
Public transport -- including most buses, cabs and rickshaws -- has been shut since.
Last evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day "curfew-like" lockdown across the country to enforce social distancing, the only method that can break the chain of transmission of the virulent disease.
Health experts have warned of an explosion of infections if harsh steps are not taken. In technical parlance, this is called community transmission, where source of the infection remains untraceable.
This is where tough measures like lockdown and curfew - announced by state after state over the weekend - came in.
The countrywide lockdown under the Disaster Management Act was a step to take the process forward, and among other things, introduce stricter penal provisions for violators.
Flagging the violations, the Centre had earlier asked states to ensure compliance, through tough actions if need be.
"We have to take steps to ensure that we do not step out of our houses. I request you to follow the lockdown seriously," Mr Kejriwal said today.