Delhi imposed weekend lockdown amid Covid surge with the national Capital registering 5,481 fresh cases and three deaths in past 24 hours while positivity rate soared to 8.46 per cent, according to health bulletins issued on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, in a major relief for commuters, authorities announced that city buses and metro trains will run at their full seating capacity throughout the week in the wake of long queues at various bus stands and stations. The order came as the Delhi Government had feared that bus stops and metro stations could become super spreaders after the seating capacity had been halved and long queues were seen at such places.
The decision to impose further restrictions was taken at a high-level meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) chaired by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal.
The weekend curfew will be in place from Friday 10pm to Monday 5am.
After the meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, “In view of the rise in cases, the Government took a few decisions at the DDMA meeting today to help slow down the spread of the virus. Delhi will now have a weekend curfew on Saturdays and Sundays. We appeal to the people to stay at home unless extremely necessary, such as to go to hospital.”
As per the DDMA order, Government employees, barring those engaged in essential services, have been asked to work from home, while private offices will remain open with 50 per cent capacity.
Shops in malls and shopping complexes will be operate on an odd- even basis from 10 am to 8 pm and every municipal corporate will be allowed to have only one weekly market that will be opened with 50 per cent capacity.
“All cinema halls, theatres and multiplexes to be shut. All auditoriums and assembly halls will be closed. Capacity at restaurants again reduced to 50 per cent and will operate from 10 am to 8 pm. Bars and spas will operate from 12 pm to 8 pm with 50 per cent capacity. Hotels to work as quarantine centres. 20 people are allowed at weddings and funerals.
Sisodia said, the number of Covid -19 cases, especially of Omicron, are increasing in Delhi and the situation is worrying. “We got to learn many things from the past two waves and this has also helped us learn from the international trend that Omicron has not been very destructive till now. But still we need to be prepared and take this situation seriously.
“At present Delhi has reported about 11,000 cases. Of which, only 350 people are hospitalized and only 124 patients are on oxygen beds. There are 7 people who are on ventilators as of now. According to experts, home-isolation is the most effective way to recover from the infection,” he said.
City on Monday reported 4,099 COVID-19 cases and positivity rate was 6.46 per cent.
On December 28, the DDMA declared a ‘yellow alert’ after the positivity rate crossed the 0.5 per cent mark, and closed down cinemas and gyms.
It had directed shops selling non-essential items to open on an odd-even basis and reduced the seating capacity in metro trains and buses to 50 per cent. Night curfew from 11 pm to 5 pm has already been imposed in Delhi since December 27.