All Covid-19 restrictions in Delhi, including the night curfew, will be lifted from February 28, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Friday.
In a tweet, Kejriwal said that schools will operate only in offline mode from April 1. He also said that the fine for not wearing masks has been reduced to Rs 500, from the earlier penalty of Rs 2,000
“All should continue following Covid-19 appropriate behaviour,” the chief minister wrote on Twitter. “Government will keep [a] strict watch.”
The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority on Friday. Kejriwal said that the Delhi Disaster Management Authority has lifted the restrictions keeping in mind that the coronavirus situation has improved and people were facing hardships due to loss of jobs as a result of the restrictons.
On Thursday, Delhi had reported 556 new coronavirus cases, taking the overall infection tally to 18,58,154. With six deaths, the toll rose to 26,115. The positivity rate stood at 1.1%.
Authorities in Delhi had imposed several restrictions in December and January as daily coronavirus cases increased rapidly during the Omicron variant-driven third wave of the pandemic.
On January 13, the city had reported 28,867 new cases – its highest single-day infection count since the pandemic broke out in January 2020. The test positivity rate then was 29.21%.
As the cases started to decline, the Delhi government began opening the city in a phased manner. On February 4, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had announced reopening of schools and colleges. While discouraged, students were allowed to opt for online classes.
Sisodia had also announced that restaurants can remain open till 11 pm. All government and private offices were allowed to function with full capacity. Gyms and swimming pools were also allowed to reopen.
In January, the disaster management body had lifted the weekend curfew. It had also removed the odd-even rule, under which shops are allowed to open on alternate days based on their registration numbers.
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