Complete Lockdown in Delhi: In the wake of the rising Coronavirus cases in the capital, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced a complete lockdown in the national capital from 6 am on Monday till March 31 midnight.Interstate buses, trains and metro services, domestic and international flights and public transport services such as auto-rickshaws and taxis have been suspended in Delhi. Government has warned the people of strict action under law against those defying or violating the orders of the official lockdown.
Delhi has 27 confirmed Coronavirus cases, out of which 6 cases are via local transmission, and 21 cases have people with travel history. There has been no community transmission of the virus. But, if we do not take stringent measures right now, the cases might surge to 1000-1500 cases in a few days. All the preventive measures, such as lockdown, will prove ineffective in containing the virus, similar to what we are witnessing in Italy right now. It will also lead to a burden on our healthcare infrastructure, and the results can prove to be fatal for all, Chief Minister said.
Delhi LG Shri Anil Baijal and CM Arvind Kejriwal said, "There is a saying in English, "Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures". The virus that erupted in one part of the world, has spread to almost all the nations in the world now. We are fortunate that we got enough time to prepare in advance because we could learn from the outbreak of the virus in other nations and could take precautionary measures since the research on this new virus is still going on. We have Iran, Italy, and China as examples in front of us, which shows that we need to take immediate measures to contain the virus."
No public transport service, including private buses, taxis, auto-rickshaws, rickshaws, e-rickshaws, will be allowed under the lockdown. Only 25% of the DTC buses will operate for the convenience of the people under essential services. All shops, bazaars, commercial establishments, factories, workshops, offices, godowns, and weekly bazaars will remain closed. The state borders will also be sealed in the wake of the lockdown, and only vehicles from other states containing essential items will be allowed to enter in Delhi.
Services Exempted from the Lockdown
The services that have been exempted from the official lockdown are offices charged with law and order and magisterial duties, police, health infrastructure and hospitals, fire department, prisons, fair price shops, electricity offices, water departments, municipal services, offices where activities related to Delhi Legislative Assembly in the wake of the Delhi Assembly Budget session tomorrow, pay and accounts office of the government, print, and electronic media offices, bank cashier and teller offices, telecom, internet and postal service offices, e-commerce operations related to essential goods, grocery shops and food item shops such as fruits and vegetables, milk plants, general stores, home delivery, and takeaway services in the restaurants, chemists and pharmacists, petrol pumps and LPG/oil agencies, and animal fodder. Manufacturing, processing, transportation, distribution, storage, trade and commerce, and logistics related to all the mentioned services will remain operational. The government will further notify on the need to exempt any other service that may have been kept out of the purview of the government for now.
The lockdown orders with respect to the offices of the Government of India will be issued separately by the Government of India.
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