Delhi govt imposes weekend curfew amid rise in Covid cases
Darpan News Desk IANS, 04 Jan, 2022 11:58 AM
New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) Amid a surge in Coronavirus cases, the Delhi government on Tuesday decided to impose a weekend curfew from January 8.
During weekdays, the metros and buses will run at full seating capacity with strict adherence to Covid-19 guidelines.
"Covid-19 cases are on a rise in Delhi and the rest of the country. However, it is a relief that the Omicron variant here is showing similar trends to that of the world's. It shows mild symptoms that are curable at home isolation. But we still need to take necessary precautions to curb the infection," Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said after the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) meeting held today.
The Deputy CM noted that serpentine queues outside metro stations and bus stops could become potential spots for spread of virus. "The crowd outside metros and bus stops could easily spread the virus. In order to avoid that, both the modes of public transportation will run in full capacity but with strict adherence to the Covid-19 protocols," he added.
Updating the media on the total number of Covid cases in the union territory, Sisodia said: "Delhi has reported around 11,000 positive cases in the past 8-10 days. Of these, around 350 patients are in hospital, 124 need Oxygen and seven are on ventilator."
He urged the people to step out only when it is an absolute necessity after wearing a mask and to maintain social/physical distancing.
Triggered by the newly emerged Omicron variant, Covid-19 situation in Delhi is deteriorating on a daily basis. On Monday, the national capital recorded 4,099 fresh infections and a positivity rate resting at 6.89 per cent. Both are the highest since May 18, 2021, when the city logged 4,482 fresh cases at a test positivity rate of 6.89 per cent.
The police identified the victim as hakeem Satnam Singh who was attacked at his clinic on Thursday in the limits of Faqirabad police station. A police official said that unknown assailants, whose number could not be ascertained, opened fire on the victim and managed to escape from the scene, the Dawn news report said.
Chief Secretary H.K. Diwedi held an emergency meeting with the District Magistrates and Superintendent of Polices of West and East Burdwan, Bankura, Birbhum, Hooghly, and Howrah on Thursday evening and took stock of the situation. After that the state government decided to deploy the Army in certain areas. However, NDRF teams have been kept on standby.
According to sources, Amarinder Singh will convene a meeting of leaders close to him in a few days to consider the formation of his new party, which will include all the leaders of the anti-Sidhu faction.
The arrested persons have been identified as Abdul Khalid, Shriram Chaurasia, Zishan Ahmad, Vikas Kesarwani and Krishna Kumar. Inspector (Kareli) Anupam Sharma said the arrested persons had sold SIM cards to law-breakers at high prices after creating fake IDs.
The ex-CM of Punjab recalled that Rawat himself had publicly stated after meeting him that he was satisfied by his government's track record on the 2017 poll promises.
It is learnt that Channi in his first meeting with the Prime Minister after becoming chief minister of Punjab requested that the Centre take back its decision to postpone paddy procurement by 10 days. The Centre has postponed the procurement of paddy by 10 days due to rain in Punjab and Haryana. Earlier the procurement was supposed to start from October 1 but now it will start from October 11.
