Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said the government has decided to extend the lockdown in the capital by another week till May 17 and will also suspend metro rail services this time around as part of the more stringent steps being taken to break the deadly Covid-19 wave.

The chief minister said traders, women and youth were consulted and everyone believes that while the cases have gone down, the infection rate is still high.

"The positivity rate in the Capital has come down to 23 per cent from 35 per cent in the last two to three days. But the situation still needs to be improved and this is not the time to relax restrictions,” he explained.

Kejriwal said that the positivity rate in Delhi had touched a high of 35 per cent on April 26 after which the cases gradually started declining as the transmission chain of coronavirus infections began to break.

The chief minister also said that the availability of oxygen has improved now and SOS calls, reports from hospitals running out of oxygen supply have also declined significantly.

The sudden surge in Covid-19 infections had got the authorities unawares and overwhelmed the healthcare infrastructure in the capital.