India's capital region of Delhi announced Sunday a one-week extension of its coronavirus lockdown until May 24, keeping the tight measure in place for over a month, local media reported.

The lockdown, originally imposed on April 19, was set to end Monday. The capital region had confirmed over 28,000 new virus cases on April 20, but the number fell to 6,430 on Saturday.

An Indian medical personnel prepares to fit an oxygen mask for a coronavirus patient, as the patient's son helps, at a government hospital in Rajasthan, India on May 15, 2021. (Getty/Kyodo)

Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of the Delhi government, said the local government is loath to lose what has been attained through the lockdown, expressing hope that the latest extension will further improve the situation.

As cases surged, the capital region saw an acute shortage of hospital beds and medical oxygen. Kejriwal indicated later that the oxygen shortage has eased, but according to local reports about 90 percent of intensive-care-unit beds remain occupied, leaving the region in the throes of a health care crisis.

On Sunday, India reported about 311,000 new infections, with the number of confirmed daily cases exceeding 300,000 since April 22 and the cumulative number of infected people reaching about 24.68 million.

Over 4,000 COVID-19 deaths were also recorded, bringing the total to over 270,000 fatalities.


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