DDMA nod to colour-coded Covid response

New Delhi: Fearing a third wave of COVID-19, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Friday approved a four-stage, colour-coded alert system for restricting various activities and functioning of Metro trains, restaurants and shopping malls in accordance with the severity of the pandemic.

The four colour-coded alerts — Yellow, Amber, Orange and Red — under the graded response action plan (GRAP) will remove any confusion about enforcement and lifting of various restrictions in the national capital, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said.

Under the new plan, night curfew from 10 pm to 5 am will be imposed in the national capital during three stages — Yellow, Amber and Orange — but there will be "total curfew" if 'Red' alert is sounded.

The chief minister demanded such a graded response action plan be adopted at the national level as well.

The plan was approved in a DDMA meeting chaired by Lt Governor Anil Baijal and attended by Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia, Health Minister Satyendar Jain, Niti Aayog member V K Paul, ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava, AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria and others.

"The Graded Response Action Plan was passed in the DDMA meeting today. No doubts will remain about when the lockdown will be imposed or when it will open. Discussion were also held about the Delta plus variant. We have to stop this variant from spreading in Delhi, for which the government is taking all necessary steps," Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi.

The stage of alert will be based on positivity rate (on two consecutive days), the cumulative number of new cases (over a week) and the average oxygenated-bed occupancy (for a week).

The 'Yellow' (Level-1) alert will be sounded when the positivity rate crosses 0.5 per cent or new cases increase to 1,500 or oxygenated bed occupancy reaches 500.

The next level of alert coded with 'Amber' (L-2) will come into force if the positivity rate rises above one per cent or new cases number 3,500 or oxygenated bed occupancy reaching 700.

The 'Orange' or L-3 alert will kick-in if the positivity rate crosses two per cent or new cases number 9,000 or oxygenated bed occupancy becomes 1,000. And the 'Red' alert (L-4) will be the highest level and will come into force if the positivity rate crosses five per cent or new cases rise to 16,000 or oxygenated bed occupancy reaches 3,000.

Meanwhile, at the meeting, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal directed officials to remain vigilant in view of cases of new coronavirus variants including 'Delta-Plus' surfacing in several states in the country, sources said. Baijal also expressed concern over people crowding markets and asked officials to ensure strict enforcement of Covid-safety protocols at such places so that these areas don't turn into super spreaders, they said.

An official source privy to the matter said issues concerning new variants and vaccination among others were discussed during the DDMA meeting.

"In the meeting, concerns arising out of new coronavirus variants like Delta Plus and Lambda (a dominant strain in Peru) were discussed at length. Measures like vaccination, genome sequencing, testing, tracking and surveillance were suggested as the most effective steps to mitigate their spread," the source said.