Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday announced all malls, except with grocery, pharmacy and vegetable shops inside them, will be closed till the end of March to prevent the novel coronavirus from spreading.
Arvind Kejriwal’s decision came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to Indians to observe a day-long ‘Janata curfew’ on Sunday, March 22, to prevent community transmission of Covid-19 and suggested them to use ‘resolve and patience’ as tools in the fight against the deadly disease.
The national capital has reported 17 people have been infected with the virus and that three have recovered. There has been one Covid-19 related death in Delhi so far.
Also read: Coronavirus cases in India jump to 206, Gujarat latest to report people with Covid-19
“Met all HODs & Secretaries. All non-essential public dealing activities stopped till 31 Mar. Only essential public dealing activities will continue,” Arvind Kejriwal tweeted.
The chief minister also said all non-essential staff are being directed to work from home.
“All permanent and contractual employees will be paid for this period,” he added.
The Aam Aadmi Party leader had on Thursday ordered restaurants to shut dine-in options to prevent the highly-contagious coronavirus infection from spreading. Kejriwal had also said the government’s plan to shut some of its offices also.
The chief minister said the government had decided to order restaurants to suspend its dine-in services and only operate the take-away or home delivery sections. This would enable people who rely on eating joints for their meals to continue buying food.
He also announced the decision to tighten an existing rule that bars gathering of more than 50 people, and brought it down to 20 people.
The government has also postponed the ongoing annual exams in city schools and directed all educational institutions in the Capital to shut down completely, both for students and staff, till March 31.
Kejriwal said that he has directed all schools, colleges and universities in the Capital to remain shut completely both for students and staff until March 31.
The move has come a day after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced it will postpone the ongoing board exams till March 31 in view of COVID-19 pandemic. It had also announced to postpone the evaluation work for annual results till the end of this month.
The number of people infected with the novel coronavirus rose to 206 on Friday after more people were infected with the fast-spreading virus in various parts of the country, according to the Union health ministry.
