Delhi Weekend Curfew: All That You Should Know

The Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal has announced a weekend curfew in the capital due to the huge surge in COVID-19 cases. The curfew will be in action from Friday 10 pm to Monday 6 am. Delhi weekend curfew

Kejriwal announced the weekend-long restrictions after a meeting with Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and other top officials earlier today.

After the sudden surge in the COVID-19 cases this year, many states have started to impose curfews, lockdowns, and night curfews to slow down the spread of the virus.

The most recent curfew has been imposed in the nation capital Delhi, and here is all that you need to know about it.

What will be closed?

Auditoriums, spas, gyms, and malls will remain closed until further notice by the government and cinema halls will be allowed with only one-third of their capacity.

Eating out in restaurants will be banned to stop huge gatherings at one place.

What remains open?

Home deliveries from restaurants will be allowed during the curfew. Weekly markets will also be allowed but with certain restrictions.

Essential activities like weddings that were already planned ahead will be allowed if curfew passes are produced.

Markets in the capital will remain open as no decision for closing any market has been made.

Why was the curfew imposed?

The sudden and huge surge in COVID-19 cases forced the government to impose the weekend long curfew. Delhi has recorded its biggest single-day jump in COVID cases on Wednesday, April 14 with a total of 17,282 new cases while the virus caused the death of 100 people in a single day.

Delhi's biggest Crematorium, Nigambodh ghat has seen an increase in the number of cremations per day from 15 to 30.

What did Kejriwal say?

The Chief Minister has said that these restrictions have been made for the benefit of people and their families. "The curfew will be inconvenient for people but it is necessary to break the chain of transmission of the virus," said the Minister.

In addition, he also asked the public to not panic as all the essential services will be available throughout the weekend.

India has recorded its biggest ever spike in a single day on Thursday, April 15. For the second day in a row, the number new of COVID cases touched 2,00,739 in 24 hours and caused a total of 1,038 deaths. Union Health Ministry saw 93,528 discharges in a day. The total number of COVID-19 cases in India has gone up to 1,40,74,564 with a recovery of 1,24,29,564  people. The number of active cases is 14,71,877 while the death toll in the country has reached 1,73,123. On Wednesday, the country saw 184,372 fresh cases with the total COVID tally shooting up to 13,873,825 cases.

This is the second-highest number of COVID cases that a country has ever reached in a day. The only country to have ever recorded a higher number of COVID-19 cases was the US, which registered 3.09 lakh cases in a single day on January 8 in 2021.