Covid-19: Weekend curfew imposed in Delhi; CM Arvind Kejriwal, BJP's Manoj Tewari test positive

Buses and metros in the national capital have been allowed to operate at full capacity but nobody will be permitted inside without masks

Delhi will have weekend curfew while government officers except those in essential services will work from home from Wednesday, as Covid-19 cases are surging in the national capital.

However, the government will allow buses and metro trains to run in full capacity after finding that the reduced capacity has led to overcrowding at bus stops and metro stations that could lead to further spreading of Covid-19, especially its new variant Omicron.

Tuesday’s health bulletin showed 5,481 fresh Covid-19 cases in the capital as against 4,099 recorded a day before. The positivity rate rose to 8.37 per cent from 6.46 per cent but the government has not gone for declaring a red alert and imposing a full lockdown as formulated in the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) when the positivity rate stays above 2 per cent for two consecutive days.

These decisions were taken at a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority chaired by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and attended by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia among others.

The meeting came as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has been on campaign for the upcoming Assembly elections and frequently visiting Punjab, Goa, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, tested positive for Covid-19 and isolated himself at his official residence. North-East Delhi MP Manoj Tewari, who has also been on campaign trail, has also tested positive.

“There will be a curfew on Saturday and Sunday. Government officers barring those from essential services will be working from home. Private offices will be allowed to work with 50 per cent capacity,” Sisodia told reporters after the meeting.

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However, the government has reversed its earlier decision to allow only 50 per cent capacity in buses and metro trains, fearing that metro stations and bus stops could become super-spreader locations following overcrowding. No one without a mask will be allowed to board a bus or train.

Other restrictions which were declared on December 28, when the capital was put under yellow alert under Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), will continue.

Sisodia said there was nothing to panic as the trend has shown that Omicron is mild in nature.

He said the capital had around 11,000 cases in the past 8-10 days but as on Tuesday, there were only around 350 people needing hospitalisation. Of this, only 124 are on oxygen and just seven on ventilators, he said.

While night curfew will continue during weekdays, shops selling non-essential items will be allowed to remain open between 10 PM and 8 PM. Shops in malls will continue to follow an odd-even scheme among others while restaurants and bars are allowed to function with 50 per cent capacity.

While a yellow alert was announced after the capital recorded positivity rate over 0.5 per cent for two days, the capital’s administration has not followed the GRAP, which was formulated during the emergence of the much more virulent Delta variant. According to GRAP, a red alert should be declared if the positivity rate has remained above 2 per cent for more than two days.