NEW DELHI: Life in the national capital has come to a halt as the city grappling with soaring COVID-19 cases observed weekend curfew, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday appealing to people to adhere to the restrictions.
The weekend curfew aimed at breaking the chain of spiralling coronavirus infections was clamped at 10 pm on Friday and will continue till 5 am on Monday.
"There is a curfew in Delhi today and tomorrow due to Corona. Please follow it. Together we have to defeat Corona," Kejriwal tweeted.
The Delhi government and the police have issued e-passes to exempted category people who need to go out during the curfew for necessary services and activities like vaccination, going to railway stations, airports, grocery and fruit and vegetable stalls.
The e-passes issued for already imposed night curfew will be applicable during the weekend curfew as well, the government has said.
Public transport including DTC and cluster buses and metro trains are running at reduced capacity and frequency for those involved in essential services and activities.
Delhi recorded its highest-ever one-day COVID-19 figures on Friday when 19,486 cases and 141 deaths were reported, prompting Chief Minister Kejriwal to order setting up more coronavirus facilities and increase the strength of oxygen beds.
The government will review the situation of COVID-19 in Delhi following the weekend curfew and decide the future course of action including its extension or some other measures, officials said.
Market associations on Friday suggested measures to control the spread of COVID-19 in the city, dismissing lockdown as a solution and calling for strict enforcement of COVID-19 protocols.
Associations of several retail markets held a meeting here and issued a joint statement, saying COVID-19 protocols should be enforced throughout the day to control the situation, rather than banking on the night and weekend curfews or lockdown.
"We all are of the common view that operational timings can be staggered or reduced rather than going for a lockdown, which will not only have a direct impact on government revenue and livelihood of workers, creating a sense of insecurity in the country, but will also not have any positive impact in breaking the chain," the statement said.
The meeting was attended by traders' associations of over 12 markets, including Khan Market, Karol Bagh, Lajpat Nagar, South Extension and Chandni Chowk.
Citing a Delhi Disaster Management Authority notification, the associations suggested that the operational timings of all legal markets can be reduced to control the situation.
They suggested that markets can operate between 12 noon and 7 PM, and office timings can be from 10 am to 4 pm.
The associations also sought complete removal of all illegal occupants and encroachers and urged the government to speed up vaccination and open it to all age groups.
"It is important to highlight that major violations of COVID protocols are being done by squatters and hawkers where unfortunately no department is taking any action. There is massive congestion caused by them on account of which becomes difficult to maintain social distancing and follow MHA protocols," the statement added.
Delhi Friday recorded the biggest single-day jump of 19,486 fresh COVID-19 cases and 141 deaths due to the disease, according to data shared by the health department.
On November 18 last year, the city had recorded 131 COVID-19 deaths, which was the highest single-day fatality count in Delhi till April 15 since the start of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the government has also issued an order "reiterating the guidelines of COVID-19 dead body management to ensure better management of dead bodies of COVID positive/suspect persons at the mortuaries of various hospitals" under the Delhi government.
On Thursday and Friday, the city had recorded 16,699 and 17,282 cases respectively.
This is the fifth record daily rise in cases in the national capital in the last six days.
The positivity rate fell marginally to 19.69 per cent from Thursday's 20.22 per cent, the highest so far.
With the fresh cases, the national capital's cumulative tally has risen to 8,03,623.
The death toll stands at 11,793, according to the latest bulletin.
A total of 98,957 tests, including 64,939 RT-PCR tests and 34,018 rapid antigen tests, were conducted the previous day, the bulletin said.
So far, over 7.3 lakh patients have recovered in Delhi, it added.
The number of active cases in the city increased to 61,005 from 54,309 the day before, the bulletin stated.
The number of people under home isolation increased to 29,705 from 26,974 on Thursday, while that of containment zones mounted to 9,929 from 8,661 the day before, it said.
The Delhi government has also issued an order for linking of public and private sector diagnostic labs to ensure timely processing of samples for COVID-19 test, the authorities said on Friday.
Also, Delhi Health Minister chaired a meeting with all heads of departments of Maulana Azad Medical College and LNJP Hospital on COVID-19 situation, they said.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Jain visited GTB Hospital on Friday and reviewed its patient admission system.
"Met some of the patients and also interacted with the Doctors. I would like to thank the medical staff who have been working round the clock and saving people from Corona," Sisodia tweeted.
They also visited Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital on Friday.
Delhi MLA and chairman of LNJP Hospital's Rogi Kalyan Samiti, Raghav Chadha inspected the triage and casualty area of the LNJP Hospital, along with the medical director and his team.
Ironing out the kinks with the objective of ensuring "hospitality at the hospital" and to boost ease of admission for patients is the government's aim, officials said.