Delhi restaurants closed for dine-in, takeaways allowed; no lockdown yet amid COVID-19 surge

In a bid to tackle the alarming surge in new COVID-19 cases in the national capital, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Monday banned dine-in services in restaurants, bars and hotels, however, takeaways will continue. The DDMA, meanwhile, also rejected imposing a lockdown in the city and continue with existing restrictions.

“It was also decided to allow operation of only one weekly market per day per zone,” Delhi Lieutenant Governer Anil Baijal was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

“Delhi Health Department was advised to make adequate arrangements for additional manpower in hospitals and to scale up the vaccination efforts including for those in age group of 15-18 years,” Delhi LG added.

DDMA in its last meeting had decided to impose a weekend lockdown in Delhi. The meeting, chaired by Delhi LG Anil Baijal, was also attended by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Health Minister Satyendar Jain, Revenue Minister Kailash Gehlot, Chief Secretary Vijay Dev, and several health department officials.

It was discussed in the DDMA meeting that restrictions imposed in Delhi should also be imposed in National Capital Territory Region to prevent rise in cases. Currently, dine-in facility in restaurants is allowed to operate at 50 per cent of their seating capacity. The city buses and Metro trains are permitted to operate with 100 per cent seating capacity.