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Weekend curfew in Delhi amid alarming rise in COVID cases

CM insists that his government wants to avoid a lockdown in the national capital

kejriwal-punjab-afp Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal | AFP

As the number of COVID-19 cases in the national capital zooms to new highs, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced stricter restrictions in the city, including a weekend curfew that begins on Friday evening and lasts till Monday morning.

Kejriwal, who has been insisting that his government would want to avoid a lockdown in Delhi and would rather try and control the situation through curbs that do not amount to a complete closure, held a meeting with Lt Governor Anil Baijal, after which he announced additional restrictions.

In a press conference following his meeting with the governor and a review meeting of the health department of the Delhi government, Kejriwal said while the situation with regard to availability of COVID-19 beds was under control, in view of the soaring number of infections and the number of cases going past 17,282 on April 14, there was a need to impose fresh restrictions to break the chain of the viral infection.

Among the new curbs announced is a weekend curfew that would start at 10 pm on Friday and last till 6 am on Monday morning. “On working days, people step out for work. But on weekends, people go out of their homes for entertainment and other activities, which can be avoided. In order to break the chain, we are imposing a weekend curfew in Delhi,” Kejriwal said.

Essential services will continue to function during the curfew period. Also, curfew passes will be issued for weddings whose dates were already decided.

The Delhi government has decided to shut malls, gyms, spas and auditoria. Cinema halls can function at 30 per cent capacity. No sit-in dining will be allowed in restaurants, while eateries will be allowed to cater to home delivery and takeaway orders. Only one weekly market will be allowed per day per zone.

In the backdrop of reports of people struggling to get COVID-19 beds in Delhi, Kejriwal said there was no dearth of beds in the city. He said more than 5,000 beds are currently vacant in Delhi and that more beds, including oxygen beds, are being added. The total number of COVID-19 beds in Delhi is now around 13,000.

“Our biggest priority is to ensure that anybody who falls sick is able to get treated. Those who are falling sick should be able to get a bed, be it in a government hospital or a private hospital. I appeal to people to not insist on getting bed in any one particular hospital,” he said.

The new restrictions are in addition to curbs that were announced earlier, which included a night curfew and limiting the maximum number of people who could travel in public transport. All colleges and other educational institutions have been shut.



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