Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday painted a grim picture of the escalating Covid crisis in the capital, saying it was turning quite serious and the city was facing a shortage of beds despite making efforts to increase availability.

Delhiites quietly acquiesced with the weekend curfew imposed in Delhi in the wake of the raging Covid-19 pandemic. On Saturday, the streets were largely deserted with most people avoiding non-essential travel in the hope that they can contribute to the official effort to break the chain of novel coronavirus transmission.

A Delhi court has granted bail to actor-activist Deep Sidhu, who was arrested in connection with the violence that took place at Red Fort on Republic Day.

Amit Sengupta, a marketing professional, made a list of people two weeks ago. His friends and uncle had just tested positive for Covid-19, and he thought he would regularly call the listed infected people to keep their morale high. The list has become longer in the last few days with many other loved ones testing positive, including my own brother and his wife, said Sengupta. It is taking a toll on my mental health.

Many forced to spend added hours at workplace due to varying curfew timelines across NCR

Delhi high court chief justice DN Patel has tested positive for Covid-19 and is in home isolation, according to court sources. They said the chief justice is asymptomatic and is otherwise doing fine.

Amid escalating coronavirus cases, Kejriwal on Saturday said the pandemic situation in the city has become very serious and worrisome, with oxygen stock, and remdesivir and tocilizumab drugs for patients in short supply.

The entire capital was shut, and work in all industrial areas and markets remained closed barring some essential shops like medicine shops. Delhi Police personnel and district administration teams kept a watch at sensitive places to ensure that the weekend curfew guidelines are not violated.

As many as 8,996 people were vaccinated against Covid-19 across 92 centres in Gautam Budh Nagar on Friday.

The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) on Saturday said water supply in parts of the capital is likely to remain affected for a week due to educed availability of raw water from the Upper Ganga Canal.

Even as fresh cases in the city keep posting grim new records, deaths due to the infection have also shot up dramatically. On Friday, the city reported 141 Covid-19 deaths in 24 hours, its highest single day toll.

After it came on record that 15 men had been granted bail in a northeast Delhi riots case, a city court granted bail to two men on the ground of parity.

A man stabbed his 70-year-old father to death after the latter refused to lend him Rs 50 in northwest Delhis Bharat Nagar on Thursday. Police said the accused was unemployed and often demanded money from his father.

This weekend, the Delhi Metro network will have 1,600 train trips per day as against nearly 5,000 daily trips on a usual weekend.

The weekend curfew aimed at breaking the Covid-19 infection chain means that unless you have a valid emergency or you fall in an exempted category, you cant step out of your house till 5am on Monday.

A 37-year-old woman died while her minor daughter and another man were injured after a tin sheet allegedly fell on them in southwest Delhi's Palam area on Friday during a dust storm, police said.

Delhi on Friday recorded the biggest single-day jump of 19,486 fresh Covid-19 cases and 141 deaths due to the disease, according to data shared by the health department.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday had announced a curfew this weekend and the closure of malls, gymnasiums and auditoriums till April 30 as part of sweeping restrictions to break the chain of the Covid-19 infection in the city.

The LG asked Chief Secretary Vijay Dev to ensure setting up of helplines that inform availability of beds in hospitals apart from displaying the same on government portals. He also directed to set up help desks to assist patients and attendants in every hospital, the official said.

The Delhi government on Friday appointed 10 IAS officers as odal officers for Covid-19 hospitals run by it and asked them to work from the health care facility they have been assigned.

The dust storm hit Delhi around 4 pm. The wind speed was 50 kilometres per hour. A hailstorm is also likely, said Kuldeep Srivastava, head of the IMD's regional forecasting centre.

In view of the surge in Covid-19 cases in the national capital, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced weekend curfew -- from 10pm on Friday till 5am on Monday. The CM said that all non-essential services will be prohibited during the period.

Delhi will live under a curfew this weekend, largely indoors from 10pm on Friday till 5am on Monday chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Thursday in an effort to check the alarming surge in Covid cases.