E-Paper
Covid-19: DDMA meeting to be held on Feb 4; What's on the agenda?
Among other things on the agenda, the talking points are expected to include reopening of schools and educational institutes that were earlier shut until further orders following fresh surge of Covid-19 cases in the city.
Delhi's lieutenant governor Anil Baijal will chair a virtual meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Friday (February 4). The meeting comes amid an improvement in the Covid-19 pandemic situation in the capital and will be attended by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, reported news agency ANI.
Among other things on the agenda, the talking points are expected to include reopening of schools and educational institutes that were earlier shut until further orders following a fresh surge of Covid-19 cases in the city.
Experts at the DDMA's previous meeting had suggested a phased reopening of Delhi’s schools. They had suggested that schools from classes 9-12 should be reopened in the first phase, followed by classes 5-8 in the second phase and classes 3-4 in the third phase.
Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who holds the education portfolio, had earlier stressed that schools should be reopened to prevent further damage to the social and emotional well-being of children. Sisodia had said online education can never replace offline education and that excessive caution is now harming students, news agency PTI had quoted him as saying on January 26.
Also read | Covid-19: Delhi decides to lift weekend curfew, odd-even system for shops
Apart from that, the capital is yet to lift the daily night curfew from 10pm to 5am. Since the Covid-19 cases have gone down significantly, it is possible the lifting of the night curfew might be taken up for discussion. Mumbai had on Tuesday ended the night curfew apart from easing other curbs as the third wave of the pandemic showed signs of residing.
The DDMA, in its earlier meeting held on January 27, had decided to end the ongoing weekend curfew as Covid-19 cases had begun declining. The odd-even restrictions in marketplaces were also lifted while cinema halls were allowed to reopen with 50 per cent capacity. Besides, Delhi government offices engaged in non-essential services were allowed to work with 50% employee attendance.
As of Tuesday, Delhi's Covid-19 tally witnessed further dip after 2,683 people tested positive for the virus, down from Monday's 3,674, according to the city's health bulletin data. The case positivity rate stood at 5.09 per cent.
