No night curfew in Delhi as of now, AAP govt informs Delhi high court

The AAP government on Thursday told the Delhi high court that it has decided not to impose night curfew in Delhi as of now, after assessing the present Covid-19 situation in the Capital.

On November 26, a high court bench comprising Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Subramonium Prasad asked the government to submit its response on imposing night curfew without any delay. The government at that time told the court that no decision was taken on night curfew but it was under “active consideration”.

On Thursday, the Delhi government filed a status report in which it said it has issued an order directing status quo be maintained with regard to permitted and restricted activities in the city till December 31. “Therefore, no new activity has been permitted/ allowed till December 31,” the report said. Earlier, the court had rapped the government for lifting several restrictions at a time when the number of cases was on the rise.

Since the last week of October, the Capital saw an uptick in daily infections with the number breaching the 8,000-mark in November. The daily toll too reached above 100 in November when the Capital is believed to have witnessed the third wave of Covid-19.The National Centre for Disease Control in a report drafted recently had warned that Delhi needs to be prepared for about 15,000 fresh cases of Covid-19 per day, taking into account the upcoming winter season-related respiratory problems, large influx of patients from outside and festive gatherings.Though several states have announced night curfews and local restrictions, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal maintained that restrictions is not a solution to the Covid-19 situation — they only delays the spread.

In the past few days, however, the number of daily infections in Delhi came below 4,000 as it recorded 3,944 fresh Covid-19 infections on Wednesday.