By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: A yellow alert has been sounded in Delhi and some restrictions imposed under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in view of the rising number of Covid cases in the city, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday.
The Level-1 or YellowAlert for Covid restrictions has been imposed due to the surge in coronavirus cases.
The restrictions under the GRAP will include shutting all educational institutions, restricting the wedding and funeral gatherings to 20 and a complete ban on cinemas, banquet halls, auditoriums, spas, gyms and entertainment parks.
The restrictions will also reduce the seating capacity in Delhi Metro and buses to 50%, among other things.
The shops in markets and malls dealing with non-essential goods and services will be allowed to open on the basis of the odd-even policy between 10 am and 8 pm, while one weekly market will be allowed in the municipal zone at half the capacity of vendors.
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Meanwhile, the restaurants will operate at 50% capacity between 8 am and 10 pm, bars will remain open between 12 noon and 10 pm with the same 50% capacity.
According to the GRAP, the Delhi government offices will call 100% grade I officers, while private firms will be allowed to call 50% of staff between 9 am and 5 pm. Gyms and yoga centres will also shut.
The chief minister, after reviewing the Covid situation at a high-level meeting, said virus cases were rising fast in Delhi but there was no need to panic as most people have mild symptoms. Delhi is ten times more prepared to fight the Corona, the CM said.
The yellow alert is imposed when the Covid positivity stays above 0.5 per cent for two consecutive days. The positivity rate in Delhi has been above 0.5 per cent in the past two days.
Kejriwal said it was unfortunate that people were visiting markets and malls without masks, and appealed to them to follow Covid appropriate behaviour.
He said although cases were rising in Delhi, there was no increased consumption of medical oxygen or increased demand for beds and ICU facilities which meant most people were getting treated at home. The list of restrictions under the yellow alert will be made public later on, he said.
