Delhi: DDMA meet on easing curbs as Covid positivity drops

NEW DELHI: A phased reopening of higher educational institutions and schools, allowing gyms and spas to restart and lifting the night curfew will top the agenda of Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), which will meet on Friday to discuss further relaxation in curbs, said officials. The Authority may also debate whether to continue with the rule of lone drivers masking up in their personal cars in view of Delhi high court calling the order “absurd”.

The city has seen a steady decline in daily Covid-19 cases and the positivity rate dipped below 5% for the first time in a month on Wednesday.

DDMA is chaired by lieutenant governor Anil Baijal while chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is the vice chairman. Chief secretary Vijay Kumar Dev, health minister Satyendar Jain, revenue minister Kailash Gahlot and some top Delhi bureaucrats are committee members. Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, Niti Aayog member Dr VK Paul, ICMR director general Prof Balram Bhargava, NCDC director Dr SK Singh and NDMA member Krishna Vatsa are among the special invitees.

In its meeting on January 27, DDMA had allowed restaurants, bars, cinema halls and theatres to open at 50% capacity and lifted the weekend curfew. However, it had kept schools shut and the night curfew in place.

With several other states having already opened educational institutions and parents’ bodies writing to the LG to take a favourable call, sources said DDMA might decide on a date to start offline classes for university and school students. Delhi government has already intensified the vaccination programme for the 15-17 age group, with many of the teens having taken the second dose.

Sources said gym and spa owners have also made several representations to the LG to allow them to restart their businesses. Saying that the fitness industry was the worst hit by the pandemic, Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri on Wednesday urged the CM to send a proposal to the LG in this regard.

“When restaurants and bars have been opened, buses and metro are running, malls and cinema halls are functioning, there is no logic in keeping gyms and spas closed,” he said.

DDMA is also expected to review the action taken by various agencies against violations of Covid protocols. Officials, however, accepted that “over-enthusiasm” shown by civil defence volunteers to penalise those not wearing masks, especially inside their own cars while driving alone, was causing a lot of inconvenience to people and DDMA could also take a call on that.