Highlights:
- The DDMA said in its order that the curfew will be in place on December 31 and January 1 between 11 pm to 6 am
- No more than five people will be allowed to assemble in a public place and no New Year celebrations, events or gatherings after 11 pm will be allowed
- During the night curfew in Delhi, there would be no restriction to the interstate movement of people and goods
Tonight, and tomorrow, between 11:00 PM and 6:00 AM, no public gatherings will be permitted in Delhi as the state government has declared a night curfew to restrict New Year celebrations. After 20 cases of new mutant coronavirus strain – considered to be significantly more contagious – were identified across the country, the center had asked the states to consider a set of restrictions and scale down the New Year celebrations.
The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) mentioned in a statement that no New Year’s celebratory gatherings, congregations and gatherings in public places are permitted from 11:00 PM on 31 December to 6:00 AM on 1 January and 11:00 PM on 1 January and 6:00 AM on 2 January. However, traffic flow will not be restricted.
In a letter on Monday, the Home Ministry urged the states to ensure strict vigil to verify the spread of coronavirus. “The number of Covid 19 active cases is decreasing steadily in the country for the last three-and-half months,” atop official wrote to the states , and added, “Keeping in view the fresh surge of Covid-19 cases in Europe and America, there is still a need for maintaining comprehensive precaution and strict surveillance within our country.”
In a statement, the DDMA said, “The New Year celebration pose a considerable threat of the spread of the virus and may cause a setback to the appreciable gains made in the suppression of chain of transmission of COVID-19 cases in Delhi”.
The statement also said that a “detailed assessment of the situation” was made in the city in view of the threat posed by the COVID-19 virus mutant strain in the UK.
Delhi Disaster Management Authority imposes night curfew in Delhi; Not more than five persons to assemble at public place, no new year celebration events, no gatherings at public places permitted from 11pm of 31st Dec to 6am of 1st Jan and 11pm of 1 Jan to 6am of 2nd Jan pic.twitter.com/EstAg05Wpx
— ANI (@ANI) December 31, 2020
In the last few weeks, the United Kingdom, where the latest mutant strain was first identified in September, has undergone a huge surge in coronavirus infections. Earlier this month, Britain said the virus was out of reach, leading to a fresh era of global restrictions in the midst of a pandemic.
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However, experts have asserted that there is no reason to assume that the latest version of virus is more deadly or that vaccinations will not combat it.
On Tuesday, the Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal said that the city is prepared to deal with the latest coronavirus mutant strain. Kejriwal also said, “At one point, 8,500 corona cases were coming to Delhi every day, which was the highest in the world. But the Delhi people controlled the corona.”
Eight out of a total of 20 strain cases of mutant viruses have been registered at a lab in Delhi. So far, over 6.24 lakh infections have been reported in the national capital. The tally has risen to 1,02 crore infections across India. Over the past two-three months, however, there has been a noticeable decrease in the number of infections reported daily.
