Delhi Covid Surge: No Fresh Curbs For Now, Says DDMA. 'Yellow Alert' To Continue

During the meeting, it was decided that prevailing curbs under ‘yellow alert’ will continue in the national capital for now.

Passengers wait to board buses as DTC buses are operating at 50 percent capacity in the wake of rising Covid-19 cases of Omicron variant in New Delh. (Image: PTI)

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing surge in numbers of daily Covid-19 cases and Omicron scare, no further restrictions were imposed by authorities for now. According to reports, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has decided not to impose any fresh curbs in view of rising Coronavirus cases.

The decision was taken in a virtual review meeting chaired by Lt Governor Anil Baijal which was also attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

During the meeting, it was decided that prevailing curbs under ‘yellow alert’ will continue in the national capital for now.

"The authorities decided ‘amber alert’ will not be imposed at the moment and the government will remain in a wait and watch mode. Further restrictions will be imposed keeping in view the bed occupancy in hospitals of Delhi in its next meeting," sources close to the development told news agency ANI.

Delhi on Wednesday recorded 238 cases of the newly found Omicron variant. There were 165 cases of the new mutant a day earlier.

The national capital on Tuesday registered a massive spike in daily COVID-19 with 496 fresh cases, the highest since June 4, while the positivity rate also rose to 0.89 percent along with one fatality.

Kejriwal had declared a "yellow alert" in Delhi, under which schools, colleges, cinemas and gyms will remain closed. The yellow alert is imposed when the COVID-19 positivity rate stays above 0.50 per cent for two consecutive days. 

Shops dealing in non-essential items will open on an odd-even basis, and metro trains and buses will run with 50 percent of seating capacity in the city.

"The cases have risen but there has been no increase in consumption of oxygen or use of ventilators. Most of the patients are getting cured without hospitalisation as they have minor symptoms or are asymptomatic," Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said.

He also said that many international travellers, who have tested negative at the airport, are testing positive after a few days and infecting their family members during the period.

Delhi government has also said that it was unfortunate that people were visiting markets and malls without masks and appealed to them to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour.