NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Tuesday extended night curfew timings and order closure of cinemas, auditoriums, spas, yoga centres, gyms and entertainment parks hours before the city's COVID bulletin recorded the fresh case tally at 496, the highest single-day jump since June 4.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced the implementation of 'yellow alert' with immediate effect as part of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) prepared by the government this August. He said the Level-1 or Yellow Alert for COVID-19 restrictions has been imposed in view of the continued uptick in the daily cases.
From 331 on Monday, the numbers reached near the 500-mark on Tuesday.
All educational institutions will be shut for physical classes while gatherings at weddings and funerals have been capped at 20. The wedding functions will only be allowed in court or at homes. The night curfew will commence from at 10 pm, instead of 11 pm as was announced by the government earlier, and will end at 5 am.
Shops in markets and malls dealing in non-essential goods and services will be allowed to open on an odd-even basis between 10 am and 8 pm while one weekly market will be allowed in the municipal zone at half the capacity of vendors.
Restaurants can operate at 50 per cent capacity between 8 am and 10 pm while bars will be allowed to remain open between 12 noon and 10 pm with half the capacity. Public parks, gardens, construction activities, industrial establishments, e-commerce, barber shops, saloons and beauty parlours will be permitted to function during the stipulated time given to the markets.
According to the GRAP, the Delhi government offices will call 100 per cent grade-I officers, while private firms will be allowed to call 50 per cent staff between 9 am and 5 pm. Delhi Metro and buses will have to reimpose alternate seating plan and no standing passengers will be allowed.
While announcing the decison to issue Yellow Alert, the CM asserted that Delhi was ten times more prepared to fight Covid-19, but so far the need for oxygen, ICUs or ventilators has not risen.
However, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor criticising the Kejriwal government saying the shutdown of trading activities restrictions should be the last resort and could have been avoided as "people are not in an economically comfortable situation".
What is yellow alert?
According to Delhi government's Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), 'Yellow Alert' has to be imposed if the case positivity rate remains over 0.5 per cent for two consecutive days, or cumulative new positive cases (for a duration of one week) touch 1,500 cases, or average occupancy of oxygen beds in hospitals remains 500 for a week.