Friday’s recommendation by the Delhi government was to lift weekend curfews in Delhi,
which were in effect from 10 pm Fridays to 5 am Mondays in light of declining Covid cases.
Commercial establishments and shops, which were allowed to open on an odd-even basis
to reduce crowds in public spaces, are now open every day.
Private offices can now be operated with 50% attendance if they are told to switch to WFH
or “work from home” mode.
Only those involved in essential services or emergency services can leave during weekends
curfew.
They must have valid government ID cards or government passes.
Except for essential items like groceries or medicines, all shops had to close.
On Thursday, Delhi reported 12,306 new cases. This is a decrease of 10.72 per cent over
the 24 hours prior.
However, there were 43 confirmed deaths, the highest number since June 2013, when 44
people died.
The number of COVID-19-related cases reported in the capital has fallen sharply over the
last few days, from nearly 30,000 cases on January 14 to less than 13,000 yesterday.
The average number of cases per day dropped to 16,000 from 23,000 yesterday, a record
high.
The city has nearly 70,000 Covid cases and a positivity ratio (the number detected per 100
tests) of more than 20%, which is cause for concern.
There is a silver lining: Of the active cases, more than 53,000 are in home isolate, which
reduces the burden on the capital’s hospitals infrastructure.
Nearly 13,000 Covid care beds remain vacant, giving the city some breathing room in the
event of more serious infections.
To encourage testing and quick identification of Covid cases, the Delhi government has
reduced RT-PCR and RAT rates (rapid antigen tests).
The first is now Rs 300 per test, down from Rs 500. Home collection tests are at Rs 500.
The latter is at Rs 100 (down from Rs 300).
