Indian capital Delhi is beginning a week-long lockdown after a record spike in cases overwhelmed the city’s healthcare system.

Government offices and essential services, such as hospitals, pharmacies and grocers, will be open during the lockdown.

The city had imposed a weekend curfew but it reported its highest single-day spike so far on Sunday – 24,462 cases.

India is reeling from a deadly second wave since the start of April.

“I have always been against lockdowns, but this one will help us amplify the number of hospital beds in Delhi,” Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal says.

He’s also appealing to the city’s migrant workers not to leave, after last year’s national lockdown saw millions of them heading back to their villages after they found themselves unemployed and running out of money.

Source:bbc.com