Delhi's Covid-19 curbs could go as DDMA to meet today

On January 27, DDMA lifted the weekend curfew and odd-even restrictions in marketplaces, while also allowing cinema halls, restaurants and bars to reopen with a 50% cap on seating.

Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) is likely to order the reopening of schools for in-person classes and roll back more restrictions after its meeting of on Friday, people aware of the matter said, citing the sustained drop in new Covid-19 cases in the city.

Delhi recorded 2,668 new cases of Covid-19 and the share of tests that turned up positive was 4.3% -- both numbers were at their lowest since the year began. (PTI file photo. Representative image)

Delhi recorded 2,668 new cases of Covid-19 and the share of tests that turned up positive was 4.3% -- both numbers were at their lowest since the year began. It has now been over three weeks since the Capital crossed the peak of what has turned out to be a significantly milder wave of infections, making the continued curbs excessive.

“It is likely that schools will be allowed to reopen in a phased manner beginning with higher classes because a large number of students in the 15-18 age group have been vaccinated,” said a DDMA official, asking not to be named.

Since March 2020, schools have mostly been closed in Delhi, at first due to the initial lockdown, followed by the devastating wave in the spring of last year, and then due to the air pollution crisis in the months leading up to winter, and finally because of the new wave of infections -- a situation that multiple experts have warned is harming not just learning outcomes but also the mental well-being of children.

At least eight states have reopened schools or have set a date for classes to resume in recent weeks as the Omicron variant-induced waves began to recede across the country. Among these is Maharashtra and its capital Mumbai, where cases have followed similar trajectories in timing as Delhi.

On January 27, DDMA lifted the weekend curfew and odd-even restrictions in marketplaces, while also allowing cinema halls, restaurants and bars to reopen with a 50% cap on seating. During the meeting last week, experts advised a phased reopening of schools, beginning with classes 9 to 12 classes, followed by classes 5 to 8 in the second and classes 3 to 4 in the third phase. But several experts said that a staggered reopening was not required.

A night curfew and a ban on running gyms and spas remain in place, and could also be lifted on Friday.

“Covid positivity in Delhi is less than 5% and decreasing very fast across the country. Majority of cases are mild in nature and mortality is only in [those with] comorbid conditions, therefore restoring normalcy vis a vis restrictions is very important,” said Dr Jugal Kishore, head of the department of community medicine at Safdarjung hospital.

“Reopening of school is vital for students, for their growth and development and same applies to gyms and other business establishments. We have no scientific evidence that the closure of schools will benefit children, therefore with priority schools and colleges should reopened,” he added.

The evidence supporting more relaxations has been visible in some manner since the middle of last month when cases began to drop from a peak that in itself did not pose a threat to the medical infrastructure at any point. On Wednesday, the basis became stronger when the test positivity rate dropped below 5%, the threshold under which an outbreak is considered contained.

The first person indicated that the situation will now be considered during the meeting on Friday when DDMA meets. The agency is headed by lieutenant governor Anil Baijal. The meeting will include experts and the chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is the second senior-most member by rank in the panel.

Officials of the health department told HT on Wednesday that following their grassroots assessment of infection trends, they had recommended the DDMA to rollback the remaining curbs.

The elected government headed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has pushed for the reopening of schools, and had backed the business community when it sought the restrictions to be lifted last month.

Calls have also been growing from the education sector when it comes the ban on in-person classes.

Sudha Acharya, the chairperson of the National Progressive School Conference (NPSC) that has 122 Delhi schools as members, said that schools were hoping for a positive outcome from the DDMA meeting. “We hope that a decision on reopening of schools is taken by the DDMA. A lot of time has already passed and it’s extremely crucial to reopen schools for children in all grades now. For children in senior grades, we need to carry out assessments and prepare them for exams too,” said Acharya.

The NPSC was among two large collectives of schools that wrote to Baijal appealing for the ban to be lifted quickly.

Chamber of Trade and Industry chairman Brijesh Goyal too wrote a letter to DDMA, appealing on Thursday to end the night curfew and allow gyms and fitness centres to reopen because thousands of workers associated with these establishments are facing unemployment.

“Now the season of marriage has started, many people are facing problems in commuting at night, similarly cinema, restaurant and bar owners have to wrap up the work much before 10pm due to which they are suffering financial loss,” Goyal said in a statement, also urging the government to permit exhibitions.

CTI also demanded that the government should allow standing passengers in metro and buses, which not allowed at present.

The Delhi Gym Association too requested DDMA and chief minister Kejriwal to let gyms re-open. “Around 5 lakh people are dependent on gyms for their livelihood. Gym owners have already suffered a lot of financial losses due to lockdown and all of the gym owners are in debt. Gyms have been open in other states and no spike in Covid cases has been seen. In the past also we followed all the standard operating procedure and we will adhere to all the precautions in the future as well,” said Chirag Sethi, vice president, Delhi Gym Association.