Even as new cases of Covid 19 variant Omicron continued to rise, Delhi has decided not to trigger the amber alert in the national capital. Delhi government reportedly has the migrants in mind and does not wish them to panic.
After a meeting, The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) attended by Kejriwal, NITI Aayog member (health) Dr VK Paul, and AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria, Delhi governor announced that no fresh covid-specific guidelines will be issued for now. After the meeting, Delhi Lieutanant governor Anil Baijal tweeted, “The Health Department was advised to enhance the health preparedness to deal effectively with the emerging situation and to closely monitor bed occupancy besides strengthening the home isolation strategy.”
The Delhi government has imposed a ‘yellow alert’, shutting down all colleges schools, cinema halls, and gyms. DDMA has also banned any cultural events, gatherings or congregations for celebrating Christmas or New Year in the national capital region. Delhi metro trains and buses will run on 50% capacity and private vehicles are allowed with a maximum of two passengers each.
Seven states have imposed night curfew in wake of the rising Omicron cases – Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Maharshtra, Karnataka and Gujarat. Scools, colleges and other educational institutes have been closed for physical classesin Delhi and Bengal.
On Wednesday, Delhi reported the highest number of new covid 19 cases since May – 923. India’s Active caseload currently stands at 82,402. A total of 13,154 new cases in the last 24 hours.Maharashtra and Delhi are back on top of the list of maximum cases – Delhi has 263 and Maharashtra 252 active Omicron cases. India has a total of 961 active Omicron cases as reported Thursday morning.
An Indian Express report quoted a senior Delhi government official as saying, “The government is wary of creating a situation where there is a migrant worker exodus again because of panic. Moreover, bed occupancy in hospitals is still very low. Delhi is among the few states to have issued strict restrictions to control the spread of the Omicron variant and it was felt that stricter directions are not needed at this time,”