Seeks Centre’s permission, suggests 50 people cap on wedding functions

In view of alarming surge in coronavirus cases in the national Capital, the Delhi Government on Tuesday sent a proposal to the Centre seeking power to shut down markets which may emerge as Covid hotspots.

In another proposal sent to the Lieutenant-Governor (L-G), the Government sought to permit only 50 people to attend wedding functions now against the earlier limit of 200 people.

Addressing the media, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, “Following the Central Government’s guidelines and considering the marriage season, the Delhi Government earlier allowed 200 guests at the marriage functions. Earlier, this number was 50 but considering the recent spike in the number of corona cases, the Delhi Government has decided to withdraw this relaxation. I have sent the proposal to the L-G for his approval.”

The CM said, “We witnessed massive crowds in some of the popular markets of Delhi before Diwali. In these markets, no social distancing was followed and due to this situation, the number of Covid-19 cases has surged significantly in the Capital. In the last order passed by the Central Government, it was noted that permission to impose local lockdowns in the State should be taken from the Centre. We have requested the Centre to permit shutting down markets if necessary.”

Kejriwal thanked the Centre for providing 750 additional ICU beds for Covid patients in Delhi. He appealed to the people of Delhi to wear masks and follow social distancing norms to protect themselves from Covid.

Kejriwal said, “the Central Government, Delhi Government, AIIMS, ICMR, DRDO and all the agencies are working together to tackle the corona situation of the Capital. But we would not be able to combat the situation without the help of the citizens. It is very important for every citizen to follow the safety guidelines. I appeal to all the citizens of Delhi to always wear a mask and maintain social distancing.”

On Monday, Health Minister Satyendar Jain had said there was no chance of re-imposition of lockdown in the national Capital since the third wave of the coronavirus has peaked out in the city.

Jain had also said the virus cannot be contained through lockdown and that people should protect themselves by wearing face masks. Delhi has witnessed a spurt in coronavirus cases since October 28 when the daily rise breached the 5,000-mark for the first time and it crossed the 8,000-mark on Wednesday.

On Thursday, 104 coronavirus-related deaths, the highest in over five months, were recorded in the city. On Monday, Delhi recorded 3,797 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the infection tally in the national Capital to over 4.89 lakh, even as 99 new fatalities pushed the toll to 7,713. These relatively low numbers of fresh cases came out of the 29,871 tests conducted on Sunday.