No sweeping lockdown will be imposed in Delhi at this stage, but more curbs may be announced like banning the dine-in facility in restaurants in view of the fast-spreading Covid-19 infection in the city for the past few days. At present, dine-facility in restaurants is allowed at the 50 percent seating capacity.
This was decided at a Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) meeting held under the chairmanship of Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal and attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
According to sources, it was also discussed at the meeting that Metro trains and DTC buses should not be allowed to run on their 100 percent seating capacity.
It was observed that the rising positivity rate, hospitalisation and deaths were worrying developments, but there was general agreement that more restrictions without causing further inconvenience to the public might be among the new curbs. A total lockdown was not favoured by the participants, including experts and senior officials.
Kejriwal had also declared on Sunday that there was no plan to impose a lockdown in Delhi as such a measure would hit the public hard.
The DDMA meeting decided that the already imposed restrictions needed to be implemented strictly to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection. The curbs announced in Delhi should also be extended to the entire National Capital Territory region to ensure that these measures are more effective in controlling the spread of the highly infectious disease, particularly after the emergence of the Omicron variant.