New Delhi: In further tightening of restrictions in Delhi amid a spike in Covid-19 cases, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Monday said restaurants and bars would be shut in the national capital and only 'take away' facility would be allowed.
"Today's DDMA meeting decided to close restaurants and bars and to allow 'take away' facility only. It was also decided to allow operation of only one weekly market per day per zone," ANI quoted Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal as saying.
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Till now, dine-in facility in restaurants was allowed to operate at 50 per cent of their seating capacity.
The Delhi LG also asked the health department to make adequate arrangements for additional manpower in hospitals and to scale up Covid vaccination efforts, including for those in age group of 15-18 years.
The DDMA, however, decided not to impose lockdown in the national capital as of now. The DDMA meeting, chaired by LG Anil Baijal, was attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other senior officials.
The meeting also discussed the option of scaling down full seating capacity in metro trains and buses to 50 percent, PTI reported.
On Sunday, Arvind Kejriwal said the hospitalisation rate was low and that there was no need of a lockdown.
"Rising Covid cases are a matter of concern but there is no need to panic. Very few people are getting hospitalised. Wearing mask is very important. There will be no lockdown if you continue to wear mask. There is no plan to impose a lockdown as of now," Kerjriwal said at a virtual press conference.
On Sunday, Delhi registered 22,751 fresh Covid-19 cases, highest in last eight months. According to Delhi Health Department, the city's positivity rate has climbed to 23.53 per cent, IANS reported.
To break the chain of transmission, a weekend curfew along with a few restrictions under the yellow alert have already been imposed in the national capital.