New Delhi/Chennai: Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) Monday suspended dine-in facility at restaurants in the city and shut down bars in view of the surge in coronavirus cases, but decided against imposing a full lockdown yet. In Tamil Nadu, the government on Monday extended the existing COVID restrictions till January 31, imposing fresh curbs restricting entry into religious places of worship from January 14 to 18, to contain the spread of Coronavirus.
The DDMA meeting in Delhi, chaired by lieutenant governor Anil Baijal and attended by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, discussed ways to strictly enforce existing restrictions to check the spread of the coronavirus and its Omicron variant.
Some participants of the meeting proposed that restrictions imposed in Delhi should be extended to the National Capital Region in view of the unimpeded flow of people between the NCR cities.
“In view of the increase in positive cases, it was decided to close the restaurants and bars and to allow ‘take away’ facility only. It was also decided to allow operation of only one weekly market per day per zone,” Baijal tweeted after the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) meeting.
Officers were also advised to strictly ensure that people wear masks and adhere to social distancing norms in markets and public places to break the chain of transmission, he said in another tweet.
As per the existing rules, restaurants were allowed to operate the dine-in facilities at 50% of their seating capacity from 8 am to 10 pm. Bars in the city were also permitted to open with 50% seating capacity from 12 noon to 10 p.m.
The lieutenant governor in a series of tweets said that after a detailed discussion with experts, it was advised to adhere to the strategy of ‘Test, Track and Treat’ with emphasis on enforcement of Covid-appropriate behaviour to contain the spread of infection.
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“Exercising vigil and regular review of the emerging data regarding positive cases, bed occupancy, geographical spread, number of deaths etc for appropriate action and containment measures to effectively tackle the situation were also advised,” he said.
The health department in Delhi was advised to make adequate arrangements for additional manpower in hospitals and to scale up vaccination including those aged 15-18 years.
It was also advised to employ positive messaging, particularly through the vernacular media to elicit community support and to advise the citizens against any panic reaction, Baijal said.
The experts and officials of the Delhi government also discussed reducing the seating capacity in Metro trains and city buses from the current 100% to 50%, according to an official present in the meeting.
However, there were differences on this issue with officials citing huge crowds at bus stands and Metro stations when the seating capacity was reduced to half after the DDMA imposed a Yellow alert on December 28.
The full seating capacity was later restored to 100% to avoid crowding at Metro stations and bus stops.
According to the data shared in the meeting, 755 calls were received at the Covid helpline 1031 number between January 1-7. For Telemedical consultancy service, login IDs of 65 doctors are created who attend the calls on a shift basis and provide their consultancy.
COVID-19 helpline number 1031 is operational round the clock and is currently running with 25 operators along with 150 phone lines.
Kejriwal had on Sunday said the rapid speed at which the coronavirus was spreading in Delhi had been a matter of “deep concern”, but there was no plan to impose lockdown just yet. There would be no lockdown if people wear masks, he had stated.
Meanwhile, in Tamil Nadu, the night curfew which was imposed from January 6 will continue till 31 January and there will be complete lockdown on January 16 (Sunday), the government said.
Tamil Nadu today reported 13,990 fresh infections, while active cases soared to 62,767.
A decision to further extend the covid curbs that were extended on December 31, 2021, was made at a meeting of senior officials and medical experts chaired by chief minister M.K. Stalin here on Monday.
In view of the mid-January Pongal (harvest) festival, the government has allowed travel in state-run buses with 75% occupancy to enable the people to reach their native districts. Further, worship in all religious places of worship has been disallowed from January 14 to 18 in a bid to prevent crowding.
Other restrictions pertaining to restaurants’ take away service and theatres will continue till this month-end, the release said.
The government urged the people to get fully vaccinated against COVID-19 at the earliest and also asked the traders and business establishments to provide hand sanitiser and strictly follow the government COVID safety norms.
(PTI)