Omicron in sight, Delhi ups guard: ₹1.54 cr fines for Covid violations in 2 days

Delhi officials said the fines imposed on Wednesday and Thursday is one of the highest in recent weeks, adding that the crackdown is part of the plan to curb the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in the Capital

The Delhi government has imposed ₹1.54 crore as fines in 7,778 cases over two days for violating Covid appropriate behaviour -- like wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and spitting in public -- in crowded areas in the Capital.

Crowds at Sarojini Nagar market on Thursday. (ANI)

Officials said the total amount of fines imposed on Wednesday and Thursday is one of the highest in recent weeks, adding that the crackdown is part of the plan to curb the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in the Capital.

In comparison, the Delhi government imposed fines totalling ₹21 crore in November.

The most fines were recorded in North and East districts where officials imposed fines of around ₹29 lakh and ₹25 lakh, respectively. Central and East districts recorded the least amount of recorded violations, seeing around ₹5 lakh in fines each.

The South district administration has also sealed a restaurant in Mehrauli for allowing a gathering in violation of the DDMA guidelines mandating a 50% seating cap.

Officials said district authorities have formed multiple flying squads -- consisting of civil defence volunteers and one officer from the revenue department -- to carry out raids in crowded areas like restaurants, bars, markets, interstate bus terminals and malls, especially at night, to ensure adherence to DDMA guidelines on gatherings ahead of Christmas and New Year.

“They are on patrol in all crowd pulling areas like markets and the like. We have also deployed civil defence volunteers in the markets... The flying squads visit different bars and restaurants as well to ensure DDMA order is complied with,” said a senior official official.

Officials said the flying squads also gather intelligence from market sources to plan raids.

Reports of overcrowding in markets, like the one witnessed in Sarojini Market on Thursday, has already drawn the attention of top authorities.

Lieutenant governor Anil Baijal also directed Delhi Police commissioner and divisional commissioner (revenue) on Friday to strictly ensure compliance with Covid appropriate behaviour in the Capital, in line with the latest DDMA guidelines.

“Media reports and inputs from the ground point out that markets are overcrowded and there are violations of Covid-appropriate behaviour at all markets, bars and restaurants and other public places, even as the number of positive cases were maintaining a rising trend and positivity rate had risen to 0.29%,” LG office said in a statement.

A senior government official said that all police officers and field functionaries have been directed to immediately launch a crackdown to ensure strict enforcement of curbs announced by DDMA.

Dr Jugal Kishore, head of the department of community medicine at Safdarjung hospital, said in light of the rising cases of Covid in Delhi, people, especially those with co-morbid condition or are immunosuppressed or unimmunised, should avoid public places. “That said, this variant is not severe and may not have serious consequences. So panic and fear should be strictly avoided. For mild respiratory symptoms, there is no need of testing or any antiviral drugs. Healthy food and hygiene is required for all,” he said.

Chamber of Trade & Industry chairman Brijesh Goyal said that markets are implementing ‘No Mask No Entry’ directive. “Markets do not have legal authority to enforce the DDMA order, shopkeepers can only follow the Covid guidelines in their shops. The district administration should cooperate with the traders,” he said.

Experts have said that the Omicron variant is highly transmissible, expressing fear that overcrowding will aid in its easy spread.

The city’s Covid graph has surged upwards over the past week, amid global concerns over the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the Sars-Cov-2 virus.

Delhi added 180 fresh Covid-19 cases on Friday, higher than the 118 reported the previous day, showed the state’s daily health bulletin. The new infections came at a test positivity rate of 0.29%, marginally higher than 0.19% on Thursday.