The AAP government has informed the Delhi High Court that it is actively considering whether to impose night curfew or weekend restrictions to contain the Covid-19 situation of the Capital as a bench comprising Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Subramonium Prasad asked the government whether it will be take any specific measure like other states.
The court was hearing a plea seeking to ramp up Covid-19 testing facilities in Delhi.
Though the Capital is grappling with a resurgence of Covid-19 cases since the last week of October, the AAP government has not imposed movement restrictions. It has curtailed the number of guests allowed at wedding events from 200 to 50 and increased the penalty for not wearing masks from Rs 500 to Rs 5,000.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has reiterated that lockdown is not a solution; as it only delays the spread of the infection. However, during Thursday’s hearing, the government told the court that it was actively considering imposing night curfew. “As active as Covid-19 cases?” the bench asked.
According the Delhi health department’s bulletin, Delhi on Wednesday had 38,287 active Covid-19 cases. Active cases refer to the number of people who are infected at present as the total tally includes the number of recovered cases as well.
On being asked how it is spreading awareness about Covid-19-appropriate behaviour, the government said it held group meeting with resident welfare associations (RWA). “Some viral videos suggest that thousands of people turned up for such meetings, please look at them and respond. These meetings can become Covid-19 spreaders. Also, you need to tell us how many market associations and RWAs you’ve reached out to and what’s the plan of engaging them in your Covid management strategy,” the court said.
“How are you ensuring that people are flouting the order on wedding functions? How do you get to know about these violations? What’s your protocol? The wedding season is upon us, you need to have a protocol to conduct random checks and other acts to ensure that there’s checking mechanism in place ,” the court added.
