Delhi Prime Minister Arvind Kejriwal extended the city's Lockdown to one more week, making the rules even stronger. Even metro services are suspended for this. The lock will continue until 5 a.m. on May 17th.
Mr Kejriwal said the expansion was aimed at ensuring that the city did not compromise its surveillance even though Covid numbers had dropped significantly.
"The standard is declining but we still can't afford modesty. We need to go beyond closure," Mr Kejriwal said.
While the rate, which stood at 35 percent in mid-April, dropped to 23 percent, doctors said this was also very high and there was a need to completely end the transmission chain.
This will be the fourth week of closure as Covid figures in the national capital increased, brought hospitals to their knees and forced patients and doctors to turn to social media for help in the midst of a major oxygen crisis, beds and drugs.
"At the end of this period we have taken the time to upgrade our health care infrastructure. The biggest problem in Delhi has been the lack of oxygen. With the help of the Center, the situation is better now," the Prime Minister said.
During a heated debate with the Center on the availability of oxygen in the Delhi High Court, the Supreme Court, which ruled on the matter, ordered the establishment of a 12-member National Task Force to monitor the availability and distribution of oxygen.
"We expect the country's top professionals to join the Task Force, as members and staff members," the court said in a ruling on Friday.
The shortage of oxygen was not only announced by Delhi but also by other provinces and hearings on the issue in six high courts.
Many provinces are also happy with the lack of vaccines, which has emerged as a key hope as the country faces a second wave of the virus.
The chief minister said he hoped the center would "help us deal with the drug shortage".
Although vaccines may not completely eradicate the virus - which has undergone several changes - it can significantly reduce the severity of the disease and as a result pressure on hospitals to reduce the death toll, doctors have said.
India recorded 4,03,738 new Covid cases and 4,092 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 2.22 crore, according to the Department of Health.
This is the fifth time a week when the country reports more than 4 lakh diseases every day.
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