The Delhi government on Tuesday imposed a night curfew in the national capital with immediate effect from 10 pm to 5 am till April 30. This comes after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal last Friday said that Delhi was undergoing the fourth wave of coronavirus. However, he added that lockdown was not being considered yet.

Also read: Delhi night curfew: Who all are exempt. Full list

“Going by the current situation, we are not considering imposing a lockdown. We are closely monitoring the situation and such a decision will be taken only after due public consultation,” Kejriwal said in a press conference on Friday. 

Notably, Delhi has witnessed a sudden rise in COVID-19 cases over the past few days. On Sunday, the national capital recorded its highest single-day spike this year with 4,033 new cases. This one reason would have prompted the decision of night curfew. According to the health department, Delhi’s COVID-19 tally has now reached 679,962, including 14,589 active cases.

After his statement on Friday, Kejriwal wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking relaxed measures for setting up COVID-19 vaccination centres in Delhi and to lift the age criteria required to receive the jabs, reported PTI.

He said that his government can vaccinate everyone in Delhi within three months if the Centre simplify the rules. Kejriwal has now announced that one-third of COVID-19 vaccination centres in all state government hospitals will stay open all day.

India recorded 96,982 new cases of COVID-19, Union Health Ministry’s data released on Tuesday showed. 466 people died of the disease in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, more than 8 crore people have been vaccinated against the deadly disease, the Centre said on Monday.