Weekend and Night Curfews to continue in delhi

New Delhi, Jan 22: Despite a dip in the number of Covid-19 cases and test positivity rate in Delhi, the weekend and night curfews, opening of shops on odd-even basis and other restrictions will continue, with lieutenant governor Anil Baijal on Friday rejecting the Arvind Kejriwal-led government’s proposal to lift the curbs.

Private offices, however, have been allowed to reopen with 50% attendance.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said in a digital press briefing on Friday that the CM had sent a proposal on relaxations to the LG.

Weekend, night curfews to stay in force for now
The CM’s proposal to the LG included lifting of the weekend curfew, allowing all shops to open, and allowing private offices to operate at 50% capacity.

Raj Nivas sources said that the LG has suggested the government to maintain the “status quo” since the positivity rate was still hovering above21%andmorethan 12,000 Covid cases were being recorded in Delhi.

“The LG has also added that the DDMA and member experts will review the situation once there is some improvement in the scenario,” the source said.

Interestingly, the LG’s rejection of the proposal came at around the same time when Sisodia was addressing the briefing.

The DDMA order, which was issued on Friday evening, states that since the number of cases and positivity rates is witnessing a decline in Delhi, some prohibitions and restrictions may be revised in area outside the containment zones.

While allowing 50% attendance at private offices, DDMA has advised that timings be staggered, apart from staggering the presence and quantum of staff, so that at a time the number of employees attending office is low, ensuring social distancing at the workplace. “They are further advised to follow the practice of work from home as far as possible,” the order states.

The night curfew from 10pm to 5am every day, and the weekend curfew from 10pm Friday till 5am Mon-
day on the movement of individuals will remain in force, the order states.

While the Delhi government expressed its disappointment, the state units of BJP and AAP also demanded that the LG reconsider his decision.

“It is unfortunate that the LG has rejected the strong demand of traders and the business community. LG has rejected the proposal of the elected government despite the fact that corona cases are reducing at a very fast pace.
When all markets of Gurugram and Noida are open, why should the business community of Delhi be made to suffer by BJP’s central government?” the AAP government said in a statement .

“When Covid cases were on the rise in the national capital, it was important to impose various bans for the safety of the residents of Delhi. But now the peak of Covid cases has passed and the cases are declining considerably,” Sisodia said in his briefing earlier in the day.

He said that from the all-time-high of more than 28,000 cases in a day and the positivity ratetouching31%, the latterhas come down to nearly 17% now “Seeing the current graph of cases, we are currently in the situation to relax restrictions,” he said .

“Now that the cases are coming down, it would be wrong to restrict people from moving out to earn for their survival. We are in a position where we can relax Covid restrictions now,” he said, adding that businesses across the city have already suffered huge losses due to the previous waves of Covid-19 cases.

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