Delhi imposes new borders, closes restaurants and bars

“In view of the increase in positive cases, it was decided to close restaurants and bars and only allow take-out. It was also decided to allow the operation of only one weekly market by day and by zone, “he said.

“Agents have been advised to strictly guarantee the wearing of masks and respect for social distancing by citizens in markets and public spaces to break the chain of transmission,” added Anil Baijal.

Earlier today, Anil Baijal chaired a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on the Covid situation in the nation’s capital. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his Deputy Manish Sisodia, Minister of Health Satyendar Jain, Minister of Revenue Kailash Gehlot, Chief Secretary Vijay Dev and other officials from the Ministry of Health were present at the meeting.

The DDMA ruled out a possibility of lockdown but hinted at tighter restrictions.

Delhi LG said the health ministry has been urged to make adequate arrangements to increase the workforce in hospitals and step up vaccination efforts, including for people aged 15 to 18.

The health department has also been urged to disseminate positive messages, including through the vernacular media, to garner community support and advise citizens against panic reactions.

“All stakeholders have been called upon to work in a coordinated manner to deal with the pandemic,” Baijal said in a series of tweets.

In the past two days, Delhi has reported more than 20,000 cases. The nation’s capital reported 22,751 cases on Sunday and the positivity rate jumped to 23.53%, while on Saturday the city reported 20,181 cases.

Amid a rapid rise in Omicron infections, authorities in Delhi are following a system of restrictions based on alerts as part of the Graduated Response Action Plan (GRAP).

The DDMA has issued detailed guidelines in response to the coronavirus pandemic to break the chain of infections, which will be imposed depending on the level of alert.

This graduated response action plan includes 3 parameters, namely positivity rate, cumulative new positive cases and average oxygen bed occupancy for lock or unlock in Delhi. Based on these parameters, four alert levels will be imposed in the nation’s capital as recommended by a high-level state committee.

The yellow alert level 1 alert will be triggered or enforced if the case positivity rate has crossed 0.5% for two consecutive days or if the cumulative daily positive cases (seven-day moving average) cross 1,500 or the average occupancy of oxygenated beds (average over seven days) is greater than 500.

At the same time, the level 2 alert or orange alert takes into account a positivity rate of more than 1%, cumulative cases on a daily average of 3,500 or if the bed occupancy is greater than 700.

Likewise, level 3 (orange) and level 4 (red) alerts will be taken into account in the national capital if the positivity rate is greater than 2% and 5% respectively. Other parameters for triggering level 3 and level 4 alerts include cumulative daily cases affecting over 9,000 and 16,000 or bed occupancy rates exceeding 1,000 and 3,000, respectively.