Seeing the re-emergence of a flood of infections crossing the mark of 6000 cases daily, Delhi govt. is looking to reduce the strength of people attending weddings from 200 to 50. CM Kejriwal said they have asked the Union government to provide powers to lock down the markets if they again get converted to a hotspot.
Decisions for both have been sent to the Lieutenant General for approval. By the end of the second week of November, Delhi has seen an unseen rise in the Covid-19 cases and the daily casualties have gone to 100 per day. New deaths showed the patients infected two-three weeks ago. CM Kejriwal told in a video briefing with the press, “A few weeks back when the Covid-19 situation showed improvements in Delhi, the government in following central guidelines issued an order. The order states permission allowing 200 people to attend weddings, up from the limit of 50 before. Today we have decided that the order should be canceled and the limit of 50 restored”.
He also mentioned, “Secondly, we saw in the run-up to Diwali that people were not wearing masks or following social distancing at many markets, which led to a spurt in infections. We have now sent a proposal to the Union government to allow us to assess if people are not following appropriate behavior at a market and shut it down if we feel it could turn into a hot spot”.
A senior official said, “By Tuesday evening, the office of the LG received both files. While the LG is likely to take a call on the wedding-related proposal on his own, he shall be forwarding the market-related proposal to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Union home ministry”.
Delhi CM Kejriwal also added that he wishes such steps will not be needed since the rush of the festival is now over at marketplaces. “All governments and agencies are making double efforts to contain coronavirus infections. But we will not be able to achieve this unless everyone does their part,” the chief minister said in what he described as “an appeal with folded hands”.
