Delhi announces fresh Covid curbs; restaurants, buses to operate at 50% capacity
Delhi government has banned all gatherings and has cut down occupancy in restaurants and theatres in a bid to curb Covid-19 cases.
The Delhi government on Sunday announced fresh restrictions, banning most public gatherings and setting limits for attendance at restaurants, theatres, on public transport and functions like weddings and funerals, to tackle rising cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). An order issued by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) said the new rules, along with the night curfew already in effect, will stay in place till April 30. The authority has banned all social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural and religious gatherings in Delhi.
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The new order said restaurants, cinema halls and buses will operate with a 50% capacity. Swimming pools will remain shut, except for sportsperson who are training for national and international events, and stadiums will be without spectators, it added. All government staff lower than Grade-I will mostly work from home on a rotation basis and private offices also advised to stagger work hours and follow work from home rules.
According to the order, all air travellers from Maharashtra will have to get an RT-PCR report not older than 72 hours. If found without an RT-PCR report, such passengers will have to remain in mandatory quarantine for 14 days. However, government functionaries have been exempted if they are asymptomatic.
The Delhi government’s new restrictions come as the city is witnessing a surge in Covid-19 cases. Delhi on Saturday recorded 7897 cases of the coronavirus disease, which took the tally in the Capital to 714,423, according to the government's health bulletin. The city reported the highest number of daily cases on Friday when it reported 8,521 cases.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal earlier on Saturday said that strict restrictions will be imposed as lockdown is not an option in the Capital, which he pointed out was witnessing the fourth wave of the pandemic. "The last few days have seen a rise in the number of coronavirus cases in the entire country, including Delhi. We need to simultaneously spearhead an aggressive vaccination campaign and also put in place measures that can effectively contain the spread of the virus along with making the hospital management equally effective," Kejriwal was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.