Restaurants likely to reopen at 50% capacity from Monday

NEW DELHI: The state government is likely to allow restaurants with 50% capacity and a limited number of weekly markets to open from Monday, senior government officials said on Saturday.

An official added that opening salons is also under active consideration.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is likely to announce the new set of relaxations on Sunday afternoon, said officials.

“Once allowed, restaurants will have to follow social distancing norms like they did during the previous unlock process. There will be enhanced enforcement in weekly markets too which will be strictly regulated. They will be opened on a zonal basis, with restrictions,” said a senior official on condition of anonymity.

As part of the unlock process, shops in malls, markets and liquor shops in the Capital were allowed to open on an odd-even basis from 10am to 8pm from June 7. Stand-alone and neighbourhood shops were allowed on all days from 10am to 8pm.

Government and private offices have also been allowed to function, with up to 50% of their staff. The Delhi Metro was also allowed to resume its services.

Delhi on Saturday witnessed a further drop in the daily count of Covid-19 cases as it registered 213 new infections in the last 24 hours, according to the state health bulletin. The active caseload, which stood at 3,922 on Friday, dropped to 3,610 in the last 24 hours, the Capital’s Covid-19 dashboard showed.

The test positivity rate is at it’s lowest since February, when it stood at 0.25%.