Delhi decides to lift weekend curfew, odd-even system for shops

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Thursday afternoon decided to lift the weekend curfew and odd-even restrictions in marketplaces amid an improving Covid-19 situation in the Capital. Cinema halls will also be allowed to reopen with 50% capacity and the Delhi government's offices engaged in non-essential services will be allowed to work with 50% employee attendance.

Schools and educational institutions, however, will still remain closed until further orders and a decision on this front will be taken at the DDMA's next meeting.

Thursday's decision on the partial easing of curbs in the Capital will be implemented once the DDMA issues a formal order.

Also, the daily night curfew from 10pm to 5am will remain in place, but bars and restaurants will be allowed to reopen with 50% capacity, and a maximum of 200 people will be allowed to attend weddings.

Experts present at the DDMA meeting suggested a phased reopening of Delhi's schools. In the first phase, schools from classes 9-12 should be reopened, then classes 5-8 in the second phase, followed by classes 3-4 in the third phase, they advised.

"The existing restrictions were discussed at length in the [DDMA] meeting, but it was decided that the government cannot let all curbs end 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," a source told HT.

The Covid-19 test positivity rate in Delhi has been steadily climbing down for the last few days. On Wednesday, Delhi added 7,498 cases, which were 10.59% of the 70,804 tests that were conducted that day, according to the state government's health bulletin.

The DDMA's meeting on the pandemic situation was attended by top health experts, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, deputy CM Manish Sisodia, NITI Aayog member Dr V K Paul, health minister Satyendar Jain, DG ICMR Balram Bhargava and several top officials. Lieutenant governor Anil Baijal, who is the chairman of the DDMA, chaired the meeting.

It was also discussed at the meeting that the curbs come back if the pandemic situation starts deteriorating again.

The Delhi government has lately been pushing for the reopening of schools while a growing number of parents are worried about their children's education being hampered due to the curbs. Schools in the Capital have been closed since 28 December.

Sisodia on Wednesday said it was crucial to reopen schools as the pandemic-induced closure was widening the learning gap. In Thursday's DDMA meeting, the Aam Aadmi Party government pushed for the reopening of schools.

In Delhi, orders to close private offices were issued on January 11, a day after the city barred the last of non-essential activities, such as dining out.

On 21 January, the DDMA allowed private offices to reopen with 50% on-site staff, but ordered that weekend and night curfews would continue in the Capital. The DDMA order came despite a request from the Capital's government that sought the curbs to be rolled back with the Covid-19 situation steadily improving.

Traders had been opposing the DDMA's decision and were demanding that the curbs be lifted immediately. Many trader associations have written to the LG Baijal, seeking the withdrawal of the curbs.

Delhi's BJP leaders also called upon Baijal last Tuesday and demanded that the weekend and night curfew should be withdrawn, while odd-even restrictions should also be lifted.

Brijesh Goyal, chairman of the Chamber of Trader and Industry, an association of traders, welcomed the decision of the DDMA and thanked the Delhi government for pushing for the lifting of curbs so that the business community gets a relief.

"It was making it difficult for traders to survive and keep supporting their staff because many shops could not open for more than two days due to the curbs. Now that the curbs have been lifted, the business community will get relief," said Goyal.

Community medicine experts supported the decision. 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. Since the test positivity rate has been dipping and has reduced to almost 10%, keeping the strict curbs like weekend and night curfew and restrictions on commercial activities was not an ideal move."

During his Republic Day speech, Delhi CM Kejriwal had assured traders that the curbs would be lifted soon.