With the Delhi government allowing all the red zone relaxations in the city from Monday amidst the extended lockdown, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan opined that the state should allow minimum relaxations given its Coronavirus situation.
Speaking to reporters, Harsh Vardhan said that Delhi is one of the places where considering the current status, more stringent action needs to be taken.
Meanwhile, the health minister has also blamed people in metros like Delhi and Mumbai for not following the lockdown guidelines properly. He said that not following lockdown measures is one of the main reasons these cities are not performing well in controlling the spread of Coronavirus as compared to other cities in the country.
With a record number of 427 new cases reported in a day, the total count of COVID-19 cases in Delhi reached 4,549 on Sunday. A total of 64 people have succumbed to the deadly contagion.
Even as the Centre has placed all the 11 districts of the national capital in red zone, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that Delhi is ready to “reopen” and people “have to be ready to live with coronavirus”.
In Delhi, stationery shops, standalone and neighbourhood shops and residential lane shops for both essential and non-essential services can be open. Also, self-employed people like technicians, plumbers, electricians and household help will be allowed to begin work.
Most of the commercial and private establishments have been allowed in Delhi – print and electronic media, IT and IT enabled services, data and call centres, cold storage and warehousing services, private security and facility management services.
Services provided by self-employed persons – electrician, plumber, lift technician, A/C mechanic, vehicle mechanic, generator mechanic, TV mechanic, Dish TV/ Cable/ CCTV mechanic, Computer and Internet service provider, opticians, private security guards/ supervisors, gas service, CNG pipeline technicians, sanitation workers, domestic helps/ maids, laundry and press-wala – are permitted along with shops related to raw material of self-employed persons and in-situ construction activities.
Private offices have been allowed to operate with upto 33 per cent strength as per requirement. All government offices under non-essential category will function with senior officers of the level of Deputy Secretary and above at full strength, and the remaining staff attending up to 33 per cent as per the requirement.
All the government offices with essential services will function with 100 per cent staff while those in non-essential services will run with 33 per cent attendance.
The Delhi government has issued an order allowing state-run liquor shops to operate from 9 am to 6.30 pm in the city, and directed deployment of marshals at these outlets to maintain social distancing.
According to a government official, about 150 liquor shops have been allowed to open in accordance with the latest lockdown relaxations given by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). There are around 850 liquor shops in the city including those run by government agencies and private individuals.
However, all inter-state buses, metros, air travel and autos remain suspended.
Reporting a revenue loss of about Rs 3,200 crore in April compared to the previous year, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said the lockdown is making it difficult for the government to pay salaries to its employees.
“Usually in April, the revenue used to be RS 35,000 crore.”
“How will we run the government? This is creating financial issues for the government. We have requested the Centre to open Delhi and make it a green zone barring the containment zones,” he added. Dailyhunt
