Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal Friday rejected the government’s proposal to lift weekend curfew in the national capital and ease Covid-19 restrictions. He, however, allowed private offices to reopen with 50 per cent capacity. Baijal said the restrictions in Delhi needed to remain in place till Covid-19 cases reduce and the situation improves.
Delhi on Thursday recorded 12,306 fresh Covid-19 cases, a decrease from the number of infections detected on the previous day, according to the city health department.
The number of fatalities reached 43, which is the highest since June last year. So far, nearly 400 people have died of the virus this month. The positivity rate of the proportion of samples tested came down by 2.38 percent.
Health minister Satyendar Jain said that the third wave Covid peak has passed but restrictions in the city will be eased only after the numbers drop further. “The peak is gone, but not the infection. The number of cases increased from 50 a day to 28,000, now it has come down to 12,000 but that is still high. When it comes down further, we will definitely remove the restrictions,” said Jain.
In other news, Delhi is likely to witness light rainfall on Friday, the IMD said in its weather forecast. The minimum temperature in the city today settled at 7.6 degrees Celsius. The air quality will, yet again, remain in the ‘very poor’ category today but is expected to improve after the rainfall.