New Delhi: Delhi will undergo weekend lockdown from January 8 till further orders in view of rising Covid-19 cases. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has appealed to the residents to stay at home. “Leave houses only in case of emergency or in need of essential services. Except for essential services, all government officials and employees will work from home. Private offices will work at a maximum of 50 per cent capacity. DTC buses and Delhi Metro will run on full capacity but no person shall be allowed to enter or travel in the bus or metro without a mask,” he said.
Sisodia further said that on the basis of the experiences so far, experts believe that this variant of Covid-19 is not fatal and the Delhi government is fully prepared to fight it. Appealing to the people, he said that residents do not need to panic. “Please wear a mask in public and follow all Covid-19 protocols.
In view of the increasing Covid-19 cases in Delhi, three important decisions have been taken. Along with night curfew, total curfew in Delhi will be implemented on Saturday and Sunday. All government offices will be completely closed except essential services like hospitals, and the rest of the employees will work from home. Private offices will run with not more than 50 per cent staff capacity.
The Deputy Chief Minister said that the number of Covid-19 cases, especially of Omicron, is increasing in Delhi and the situation is worrying. “We got to learn many things from the past two waves and this has also helped us learn from the international trend that Omicron has not been very destructive till now. But still we need to be prepared and take this situation seriously. At present, Delhi has reported about 11,000 cases of which, only 350 people are hospitalized and only 124 patients are on oxygen beds. There are seven people who are on ventilators as of now.”
Sisodia said that experts believe that the symptoms of Omicron are very mild and the infected people are recovering very quickly. “But it is important to stay away from it. So everyone should wear a mask when out in public. According to experts, home isolation is the most effective way to recover from the infection,” he said, appealing that infected people should opt for hospitals only in case of decreasing oxygen levels. /BI/
