The weekend curfew in Delhi will come into effect from Friday night and continue till 5 am on Monday, putting on hold all non-essential activities. The curfew, beginning at 10 pm on Friday, was imposed by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority on January 1 in the wake of a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said although Delhi is witnessing a sharp spike in Covid cases, there is no reason to worry. He further asserted that hospitalisation and death rates are low and asked people to be responsible while assuring them that the government has made all the arrangements to meet any medical exigency.
Here’s a look at what will remain open and shut during the 2-day curfew:
– Metro train services will continue to be regulated on the weekend (January 15 -16) in compliance with the DDMA guidelines, said an official spokesperson of the Delhi Metro.
– Metro and public transport buses will operate with full seating capacity during the curfew but no standing commuters will be allowed.
– Trains will be available at a frequency of 15 minutes on the ‘Yellow Line’ – HUDA City Centre to Samaypur Badli-and ‘Blue Line’ (i.e. Dwarka Sec-21 to NOIDA Electronic City/Vaishali.
– On all other lines, trains will be available at a frequency of 20 minutes during the curfew. The e-passes issued last week for essential services will be valid during the curfew.
– Markets will be closed during the curfew except those dealing in essential goods and services like groceries, vegetables and fruits, medicines, milk, among others.
The national capital, meanwhile, on Friday recorded 24,383 Covid-19 cases, registering a 15.5 per cent drop from yesterday. The positivity rate, however, climbed to 30.64 per cent, indicating that every third sample collected for a coronavirus test returned a positive report in the past 24 hours. As many as 34 deaths were reported on Friday.
On Thursday, 28,867 Covid cases were reported, which was the sharpest single-day rise since the beginning of the pandemic, when the city had conducted 98,832 tests. However, Friday’s figure of coronavirus cases came out of 79,578 tests, with a senior government official saying the drop in cases may be due to lower testing.
“The low number of tests can be attributed to the change in testing guidelines. In an advisory issued earlier this week, the (central) government had said that asymptomatic patients undergoing surgical/non-surgical invasive procedures should not be tested unless warranted or symptoms develop,” the official said.
The active cases in the city stand at 92,273, of which 64,831 are in home isolation. The number of containment zones is 27,531. According to the data, the positivity rate recorded on Friday is the highest since May 1 last year when it was 31.61 per cent. In the last 24 hours, 26,236 Covid-19 patients have also recovered from the virus.
CM Kejriwal said restrictions, imposed in view of the surge in coronavirus cases, will be tightened, if necessary, “but if corona cases begin to decline, we will relax the restrictions”. The government said that 2,529 patients are currently in hospitals, and as many as 815 patients are on oxygen support, including 99 who are on ventilator.
(With PTI inputs)
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