All weekly mkts to reopen from Aug 9: CM Kejriwal

New Delhi: All weekly markets in the national capital will reopen from August 9, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Saturday. The weekly markets were closed after the lockdown was imposed in Delhi on April 19 due to the surge in cases during the second Covid wave.

Later, one weekly market in each municipal zone was allowed to open with proper adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour and official guidelines. The chief minister said his government is concerned about the livelihoods of poor associated with these markets and urged people to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour. "Weekly markets are being opened from Monday. These r poor people. Govt is quite concerned about their livelihoods. However, everyone's health and lives are also imp. I urge everyone to follow Covid appropriate behaviour after these mkts are opened," he tweeted.

In the meantime, the Chamber of Trade and Industry on Saturday urged the Delhi Disaster Management Authority to allow malls and markets to operate till 10 pm. These markets are presently allowed to operate till 8 pm.

In its letter to DDMA, the CTI said there is "still no demand for extension of time in the wholesale markets but traders of retail markets want that the opening time should be increased from 8 pm to 10 pm".

"There are many festivals — Hariyali Teej, Independence Day, Raksha Bandhan and Janmashtami — coming up in the month of August. In this, the traders are feeling the possibility of getting business up, but the permission to open shops till 8 pm is proving to be insufficient," said CTI chairman Brijesh Goyal in a statement.

The national capital recorded 72 fresh COVID cases and one death due to the disease on Saturday, while the positivity rate rose to 0.10 per cent, according to data shared by the health department here. The death toll in the city has now risen to 25,066, according to the latest health bulletin.

Addition of two lakh doses of anti-coronavirus vaccines has taken the number of jabs available in the national capital to over 8.81 lakh which would last for eight days, according to the Delhi government's vaccination bulletin on Saturday. According to it, 83,833 vaccines were administered in Delhi on Friday, of which 59,824 were first doses and 34,009 second ones.