Weekend curfew in Delhi amid Covid surge

NEW DELHI: Delhi will impose a weekend curfew and work from home for government offices in new restrictions to tackle a surge in Covid cases driven by Omicron. Buses and the Delhi metro will, however, operate at full capacity.

Announcing the new curbs, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said most offices would have to make half their employees work from home.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) met to decide on new curbs with the positivity rate in Delhi staying above five per cent for two straight days - a level that triggers a red alert under the colour-coded Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).

"DDMA has decided to impose a curfew in Delhi on Saturdays and Sundays to curb COVID surge. All government officials except for those engaged in essential services will work from home. 50% workforce of private offices will work from home," Mr Sisodia told reporters.

"Buses and metro will function at 100 per cent but not without a mask. There is nothing to worry about. Make masks your shield." Earlier, both services were ordered to operate at half their capacity but that led to chaotic long queues and crowds.

Delhi has reported a rising positivity rate or the number of people testing positive for every 100 tests. On Monday, 4,099 new cases and one death were reported in 24 hours. Today, cases went up to 5,481, the highest in more than seven months; three deaths were also reported.