Janata Curfew: Delhi bans gatherings of five
NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday banned public gatherings of more than five people and said his government may put the Capital under a complete lockdown if the circumstances required it, stepping up the response to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) a day before a countrywide shutdown was to take effect following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for a “people’s curfew” to break the chain of infections.
India reported another sharp rise in the number of confirmed cases on Saturday, with 79 fresh infections taking the tally up to 315.
Health care professionals were still to trace the origins of the infections in at least two cases, prompting experts to suspect these were early signs of community transmission.
The government, however, maintained there was no community transmission, a stage in an outbreak when an individual’s infection can’t be traced to its source.
Reacting to the unprecedented crisis facing the country and the world, Indians on Saturday prepared to follow the appeal of the Prime Minister, who has asked citizens to stay home from 7am to 9pm on Sunday in a symbol of India’s determination to defeat the outbreak. The move has been seen by many as a test-case to prepare for future challenges amid calls by experts to implement a complete lockdown to battle the global pandemic.
The Delhi chief minister held his first-ever digital news briefing to announce measures to protect people living in the national capital.
Urging people to stay indoors as much as possible, he said the government was not imposing a lockdown for now, but could announce it if the need arose.
“If needed, we may go for it (lockdown). All steps are being taken for the people’s safety,” the chief minister said in a 10-minute briefing streamed live from his office.
“More than five people will not be allowed to gather at one place. However, if they gather, there should be a distance of one metre between them. Even in a queue, keep one-metre distance,” Kejriwal added.