Several states on Monday initiated the ‘unlock’ exercise amid the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic ebbing across the country. As the situation in the national capital improved, the Kejriwal government too began the process of unlocking. And with that there was considerable traffic on the city’s roads through the day.
Earlier, Kejriwal stated that the city had fought coronavirus with all its might. “Now is the time to gradually re-establish the economy,” he said.
As the national capital began to gradually ease lockdown restrictions, heavy traffic was spotted at the ITO in Delhi. Several cars, two-wheelers, auto-rickshaws and buses were seen on the roadways. Between 9 am and 5 pm, the Delhi government has authorised all private offices to work at 50% capacity.
Chief Minister Kejriwal, however, advised everyone who can work from home to do so. According to the Delhi government, Grade 1 personnel would work at 100% capacity in local bodies and corporation offices, while the rest would work at 50% capacity. The CM asked people to continue following all Covid-related regulations as new relaxations took effect, including the resumption of Metro operations. “We need to protect ourselves from the coronavirus sickness while also getting the economy back on track,” he said.
“Many activities in Delhi have resumed as of today. However, take all care to entirely avoid coronavirus—wear a mask, stay a safe distance from others, and wash your hands frequently. Do not take any chances,” Kejriwal tweeted.
Delhi Metro tweeted saying, “Entry for a few of our stations are being intermittently closed and opened for short durations to ensure social distancing as part of our crowd control measures. Please bear with us and allow for extra time in your commute.”
On 19 April, the national capital was placed under lockdown, and since then, there has been a considerable drop in Covid-19 cases and deaths, with the positive rate coming down to 0.5 percent.
As per the guidelines, the standalone shops will be permitted to operate from 10 am to 8 pm on a daily basis. As the city works to recover from the disastrous second wave, e-commerce platforms have been authorised to deliver goods to residents’ homes.
Meanwhile, the national capital reported 231 new Covid-19 infections in the last twenty-four hours, the lowest since 2 March, with the positivity rate dipping to 0.36 per cent. Thirty-six people succumbed to the disease in a day, pushing the death toll here to 24,627.