As Covid cases rise, Delhi bans restaurant dine-in services, closes bars

New Delhi, January 10

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Monday suspended dine-in facility at restaurants and closed bars in view of the rising Covid cases in the city, but decided against imposing a full lockdown yet.

A DDMA meeting, chaired by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, also discussed ways to strictly enforce existing restrictions to check the rising cases of the coronavirus and its Omicron variant.

“In view of the increase in positive cases it was decided to close the restaurants and bars and to allow ‘take away’ facility only. It was also decided to allow operation of only one weekly market per day per zone,” Baijal said in a tweet.

Officers were also advised to strictly ensure people wear masks and adhere to social distancing norms in markets and public areas to break the chain of transmission, he said in another tweet.

It was also discussed in the DDMA meeting that restrictions imposed in Delhi should be extended in National Capital Territory Region also in view of the unhindered flow of people.

Currently, the dine-in facility in restaurants was allowed to operate at 50 per cent of their seating capacity. The bars were also permitted to open with 50 percent seating capacity.

The meeting also discussed scaling down full seating capacity in Metro trains and city buses from current to 50 per cent, officials said.

Kejriwal had on Sunday said the rapid speed at which the coronavirus was spreading in Delhi had been a matter of “deep concern”, yet added there was no plan to impose lockdown.

There would be no lockdown if people wear masks, he had stated. PTI