Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today announced additional relaxations to the lockdown in the national capital as part of the unlock process.
An order issued by the Delhi Disaster management authority (DDMA) will ease a few restrictions in place from the previous lockdown and will come into effect from June 7.
According to the new mandate,
1. Markets and malls will be allowed to open outside the containment zones on an odd-even basis between 10 am to 8 pm depending on their shop number.
2. Standalone and neighbourhood shops will be allowed to open on all days and the sale of essential/non-essential goods will be permitted. However, the timing for shops selling non -essential goods will be between 10 am to 8 pm
3.Delhi Metro Services will resume with 50 per cent capacity
4.E-commerce services will be allowed to recommence
5. Private offices can function with 50 per cent of their capacity between 9 am to 5 pm. Grade 1 staff of government offices will be allowed to function with 100% staff while the rest will work at 50% of their total number.
The existing state of affairs will continue for other activities. The order further directed that COVID-19 appropriate behaviour needs to be followed in the shops/offices allowed to open and failure to cooperate will attract legal action.
Kejriwal said that if the coronavirus situation remains under control after the resumption of these activities, more will be allowed in the coming weeks.
He also stated that his government bracing for the impact of the third wave and 420 tonnes of oxygen storage capacity is being prepared for the same
The government, last week began the unlocking process by allowing manufacturing and construction activities to resume in Delhi. "In the un-lockdown process, our priority will be the weakest economic sections. So, we will start with labourers, especially migrant labourers. Most of them are engaged either in the construction sector or in factories" he stated in a press briefing last month
The national capital has been under lockdown since April 19 in order to restrict the spread of the virus. It reported 523 new cases of Covid-19 on Friday and the test positivity rate (TPR) also increased slightly to 0.68% from 0.61% the previous day. However, the rate stayed below 1% for the fifth consecutive day.
