Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday announced an extension of the ongoing lockdown in Delhi by another week, saying the process of unlocking will start from May 31 in a phased manner if the number of Covid-19 cases continued to decline.

In the past 24 hours, Delhi recorded around 1,600 positive cases and the positivity rate went further down to below 2.5 percent, he said.

"I consulted many people and the general opinion favoured a lockdown extension for one week. So, the Delhi government has decided that the lockdown will be extended to 5 AM on May 31," he said.

Kejriwal said the lockdown was required so that the gains made after much struggle are not lost.

He said he was in talks with vaccine manufacturers to ensure that the vaccine was available in Delhi, and asserted his government was ready to spend any amount for it.

Delhi recorded 2,260 fresh Covid-19 cases and 182 fatalities on Saturday, with the positivity rate in the city slipping to 3.58 per cent, data shared by the health department showed.

This is the lowest daily spike in cases recorded since March 31 (1,819) and the first time that the count has gone below the 3,000-mark since April 1, when 2,790 people tested positive for the viral disease.

As per the latest health bulletin, these new fatalities pushed the death toll due to Covid-19 in the national capital to 23,013.

The positivity rate was 5.5 per cent on Thursday and 4.76 per cent on Friday.