NEW DELHI, Dec 23: The Delhi Government has banned all gatherings of Christmas
and New Year's Eve celebrations as part of a fresh dose of restrictions to check
the spread of Omicron, the new highly transmissible covid variant, in the Capital,
which has accounted for the maximum number of cases of the mutant in the country
so far.
“All social/political/sports/entertainment/cultural/religious festival-related
gatherings and congregations are prohibited throughout NCT of Delhi," said the
order issued by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Wednesday.“
It has also directed the District Magistrates to ensure that the restrictions
are followed during Christmas and New Year's Eve. “All District Magistrates
and DCPs shall ensure that no cultural event/gatherings/congregations take place
for celebrating Christmas or New Year in NCT of Delhi,” it stated.
“All restaurants and bars are allowed up to 50% of the seating capacity. Auditoriums/assembly
halls are allowed up to 50% of the seating capacity. Marriage related gatherings
are permitted with a ceiling of 200 persons. Sports activities in stadiums/sports
complexes are permitted only without spectators," it said.
“All district magistrates, in perfect coordination with district DCPs, shall
take concerted action in those identified pockets/areas as per the prescribed
protocol guidelines/SoPs viz. test, track & treat, prompt & effective containment
measures, enforcement of Covid appropriate behaviour etc.," it said.
After a high-level meeting on the emerging covid situation on Thursday,Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the healthcare services are being ramped up by
raising the manpower strength, stocking medicines and arranging enough medical
oxygen. Fifteen oxygen tankers will be delivered in the next three weeks.
The Chief Minister said, “We've created a capacity to conduct 3 lakh tests
daily. We can handle 1 lakh cases a day if such a situation arises."
Delhi has recorded 64 Omicron cases so far, the highest among all States. Over
200 cases have been detected in India till Wednesday. The daily covid cases
reached 125, the highest in six months, on Thursday. The national Capital has
registered a total of 25,102 deaths so far.
Meanwhile, the Centre has asked the States to: Impose night curfews and ban
large gatherings; Notify Containment Zones; and, Send all cluster samples to
INSACOG labs for genome sequencing.
