Weekend curfew over, dining out back in city

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) accepted calls to at least roll back some curbs after the Covid-19 outbreak in the city appeared to be stable.

New Delhi: There will no longer be a weekend curfew, shops can be open on all days, and restaurants, bars and cinema halls can reopen for customers at 50% of their capacity, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) decided on Thursday, heeding to calls to at least roll back some curbs after the Covid-19 outbreak in the city appeared to be stable.

Delhi Police personnel stop a vehicle during a weekend curfew imposed by the Delhi government amid rising Covid-19 cases.

The attendance cap on weddings, too, was raised to 200 people (or 50% capacity if the event is indoors) but the night curfew for non-essential activities between 10pm and 5am will continue, and schools will stay closed until a decision next week, officials said.

In markets, complexes and malls all shops and establishments dealing with non- essential goods and services will be allowed to open between 10am to 8pm without the odd-even rule. Restaurants shall be allowed to operate at 50% of the seating capacity from 8am to 10pm, while bars shall be allowed to operate at 50% of the seating capacity from 12pm to 10pm, the DDMA order issued on Thursday night stated.

Gyms and spas will, however, remain closed.

At funeral gatherings, up to 100 people will be allowed, while for marriage related gatherings, halls or banquets can function at 50% capacity with a ceiling of 200 persons. The owners of these places will be responsible for maintaining social distancing and CAB.

“However, it is clarified that assembly halls and banquet halls will remain closed except for the purpose of marriage. There shall be no weekend curfew on movement of persons in the city,” the DDMA stated.

“After detailed discussions with experts, in view of the decline in positive cases, it was decided to gradually ease restrictions while ensuring adherence to Covid appropriate behaviour. It was agreed to revoke weekend curfew and to open markets without the odd even rule. It was also decided to open all government offices with 100% strength up to grade 1 level,” said lieutenant governor (LG) Anil Baijal, who heads DDMA, in a tweet after the meeting on Thursday.

Baijal added that the health department has been asked to improve vaccination coverage and to carry out an epidemiological analysis of hospitalised patients. “Emphasised on all agencies to ensure strict enforcement of Covid-appropriate behaviour and to continue to be vigilant without lowering the guard,” he added.

An official who was at the meeting said the existing restrictions were discussed at length, and it was decided that all curbs cannot be lifted at once. “The relaxations will be allowed in a phased manner. The other restrictions will be reviewed in the next meeting, including the reopening of schools,” the official told HT, adding that instructions have been sent to district authorities to improve the enforcement of safe behaviour, such as mask-wearing and avoiding crowding.

In the meeting CM Arvind Kejriwal, who received multiple representations from the traders in recent days, pushed for lifting various restrictions so that the business community gets a relief, the person added.

Thursday’s decision will be implemented once the DDMA issues a formal order, which was likely late on Thursday.

During the DDMA meeting, the Aam Aadmi Party government also pushed for the reopening of schools, citing among factors the growing worry that parents have expressed of the continuing learning loss for their children.

Schools in the Capital have been closed since December 28 when the government sounded “yellow alert” imposing various restrictions.

Sisodia on Wednesday said it was crucial to reopen schools as the pandemic-induced closure was widening the learning gap.

The Delhi education minister’s comments came after a meeting with a delegation of parents led by epidemiologist Dr Chandrakant Lahariya and other public policy experts. The delegation submitted a petition, endorsed by at least 1,600 signatories, seeking the reopening of schools.

Sudha Acharya, chairperson of the National Progressive School Conference (NPSC), which has 122 Delhi schools as members, said that the continued closure of schools was disappointing for all stakeholders. “Schools could have been reopened from February 1 since cases are on the decline. If curbs can be relaxed for cinemas and restaurants, what is the problem with school reopening? The message being sent out is that cinema halls are safer than schools. Students are highly demotivated with the lack of a decision on reopening,” said Acharya.

Cases in the Capital have been gradually falling, except for some days of spikes that were the result of increase in testing. On Thursday, the capital added 4,291 new cases with a test positivity rate of 9.56%. The new cases was the lowest since January 3 and the test positivity rate – a measure less sensitive to fluctuations in testing – was the lowest since January 4.

The peak of cases was on January 13, when 28,867 cases were recorded with a test positivity rate of over 30%.

An audit report of Covid deaths prepared by Delhi government found more signs that this wave of infections has been significantly less damaging for the city. Among the 438 people who died between January 13 and 25, only 94 had Covid-19 as primary cause of death.

In 318 deaths, a Covid-19 infection was incidental.

Among the 94, 89 were eligible for a dose and of these, 57 were unvaccinated – translating to 64% of fatalities in the unvaccinated group.

DDMA also asked authorities to focus on giving booster doses for those eligible as soon as possible, said a person at the meeting who asked not to be named.

The Confederation of All India Traders welcomed the decisions taken on Thursday. “The withdrawal of odd-even rule and weekend curfew will ease the business environment in Delhi to a great extent and the business can be revived now though it may take a longer period for the trade to come out from the slumber caused due to restrictions,” said CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal.

Brijesh Goyal, chairman of the Chamber of Trader and Industry, an association of traders, said lifting of curbs will normalise the business conditions. A delegation of traders will soon meet Kejriwal and thank him for it, he said. “Raising the limit of persons for weddings and allowing eateries to function with 50% capacity will support livelihood,” said Goyal, adding that wedding season is round the corner.

Community medicine experts supported the reopening.

Dr Jugal Kishore, head of the department of community medicine at Safdarjung hospital, said: “The government has taken the right decision to lift the curbs because the test positivity rate has been reduced to almost 10% and will further go down in few days. Keeping the strict curbs like weekend and restrictions on commercial activities was not an ideal move. Harsh curbs may further delay the drop in the curve because due to curbs there will be less movement of individuals which may slow down the infection spread. It is already proven that infection is mild with not much mortality, such curbs is more damaging particularly for school children who are suffering learning loss.”