India's capital New Delhi will impose a week-long lockdown from Monday night, officials said, as the megacity struggles to contain a huge surge in Covid-19 cases with hospitals running out of beds and oxygen supplies low.
The country of 1.3 billion people reported a record high of 273,810 new infections on Monday – the fifth consecutive day of more than 200,000 cases.
In New Delhi – the worst-hit city in India – 25,500 new cases were reported on Sunday, with almost one third of those tested returning positive coronavirus results.
"Delhi's health system is at a tipping point. The Covid-19 situation is pretty critical," the city's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a televised address.
"If we don't impose a lockdown now, we will be looking at a bigger disaster. From tonight there will be a lockdown until next Monday."
Mr Kejriwal said businesses would be shut and movement around the northern city of 20 million limited to essential services.
"The lockdown doesn't end the pandemic but just slows it. We will use this week-long lockdown to improve our healthcare," he said.
The healthcare system, he said, was under severe strain and had reached its limit.
The restrictions followed similar measures in other parts of India, including in the western state of Maharashtra, home to financial capital Mumbai, and the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi avoided wearing a mask at a campaign rally on Saturday. "I've never seen such huge crowds," Mr Modi exclaimed at the event in West Bengal.
That night he said "India had defeated Covid last year and India can do it again" after an online meeting with health officials, who spoke of critical shortages of drugs, vaccines and other supplies in a nation that has reported a string of new daily records in the past two weeks.
Double mutation fear
News of Delhi's lockdown comes after fears that a new variant of Covid-19, which has a so-called double mutation, is thought to be fuelling the current wave of cases.
India has reported more than 14.5 million coronavirus cases so far and deaths have exceeded 175,600.
“This is a variant of interest we are following,” Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organisation’s technical lead officer on Covid, told reporters on Friday.
“Having two of these mutations, which have been seen in other variants around the world, are concerning.”
She said that there was a similarity with mutations that increase transmission as well as reduce neutralisation, possibly stunting the ability of vaccines to curb them.
The new strain underscores the insidious nature of viruses and threatens to thwart containment efforts in India, despite measures such as the world’s largest lockdown last year.
An exploding outbreak in India risks undoing a hard-won victory over the pathogen for others, too, especially as this strain has now jumped to at least 10 other countries.
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Tips on buying property during a pandemic
Islay Robinson, group chief executive of mortgage broker Enness Global, offers his advice on buying property in today's market.
While many have been quick to call a market collapse, this simply isn’t what we’re seeing on the ground. Many pockets of the global property market, including London and the UAE, continue to be compelling locations to invest in real estate.
While an air of uncertainty remains, the outlook is far better than anyone could have predicted. However, it is still important to consider the wider threat posed by Covid-19 when buying bricks and mortar.
Anything with outside space, gardens and private entrances is a must and these property features will see your investment keep its value should the pandemic drag on. In contrast, flats and particularly high-rise developments are falling in popularity and investors should avoid them at all costs.
Attractive investment property can be hard to find amid strong demand and heightened buyer activity. When you do find one, be prepared to move hard and fast to secure it. If you have your finances in order, this shouldn’t be an issue.
Lenders continue to lend and rates remain at an all-time low, so utilise this. There is no point in tying up cash when you can keep this liquidity to maximise other opportunities.
Keep your head and, as always when investing, take the long-term view. External factors such as coronavirus or Brexit will present challenges in the short-term, but the long-term outlook remains strong.
Finally, keep an eye on your currency. Whenever currency fluctuations favour foreign buyers, you can bet that demand will increase, as they act to secure what is essentially a discounted property.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
