Public festivities banned, random testing ordered
New Delhi: Amid a rise in coronavirus cases, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority on Tuesday ordered that there will be no public celebrations in the national Capital during upcoming festivals such Holi and Navaratri.
Chief Secretary Vijay Dev directed authorities to ensure strict compliance of the order.
"All authorities concerned will ensure that public celebrations and gatherings, congregations during upcoming festivals like Holi, Shab-e-Barat, Navaratri etc shall
not be allowed in public places/public grounds/public parks/markets/religious places etc in NCT of Delhi," Dev said in the order.
The authority has also ordered random testing of passengers coming from states where Covid cases are on the rise. "Random testing (RAT/RT-PCR) of passengers coming from other states where COVID19 cases are increasing, to be done at all airports, railway stations, inter-state bus terminals and other alighting points (for private buses)," it said.
Meanwhile, Delhi reported 1,101 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, highest in over three months, while four people succumbed to the virus, the health department said.
It is the first time since December 24 that the city has recorded more than 1,000 cases.
The new 1,101 cases are the highest since December 19 when 1,139 cases were recorded, according to official data.
The active cases rose to 4,411 from 3,934 a day ago. The positivity remained over 1 per cent for the fourth consecutive day, the health bulletin said.
The new infections pushed the tally to 6,49,973, while 6.34 lakh patients have recovered from the virus.
Four people died due to the disease, taking the number of fatalities to 10,967.
A total of 84,237 tests, including 52,099 RT-PCR tests, were conducted a day ago, as the positivity rate stood at 1.31 per cent, the bulletin said.
Earlier in the day, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar
Jain said that COVID-19 is a recurring infection and people need to learn to live with it.
Delhi was witnessing around 200 cases daily some days ago. The number has again risen to 800-900, Jain said at an event on the Delhi Assembly premises where he felicitated 'corona warriors' from the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital and GTB Hospital.
"Coronavirus is a recurring infection. The minute we feel the situation is getting better, there is a sudden surge. We need to be aware, but also need to learn to live with it," he said.
"Just like the other diseases, we will have to learn how to protect ourselves. If we continue to take precautions like washing our hands, wearing a mask, a lot of other diseases too can be kept at bay," he said.
