New Delhi Apr 22 PTI Within three weeks of lifting its mask mandate the Delhi government Friday made masks mandatory at public places with immediate effect and imposed a fine of Rs 500 for any violation as coronavirus cases rise in the city againHowever those travelling together in a private four-wheeler are out of the purview of the new rule according to an order issued by the citys Health and Family Welfare Department Though the order does not mention if people travelling in hired cabs and taxis are required to wear masks a senior official said they are not exemptThe mask mandate will also be in force inside metro trains and DTC and Cluster busesIn view of the latest guidelines the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation DMRC said in a statement that flying squads will be deployed to ensure that the Covid safety protocol including the mask mandate is adhered to by passengers inside trains and premises it saidPassengers will be counselled to ensure strict adherence to the guidelines and offenders will even be penalized on the spot if required added the statementThe Delhi Disaster Management AuthorityDDMA had in a meeting last Wednesday decided to make masks mandatory at public places with a fine of Rs 500 for any violationThe DDMA meeting attended by Lt Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal among others had noted that Covid case positivity rate has been increasing in Delhi over the past fortnight In its order on Friday the DDMA said it took the decision on fine after examining all relevant facts related to the issue of penal provisions for not adhering to the protocol of wearing masks at public placesA fine of Rs 500 for not wearing of face mask in all public places in Delhi will be imposed from immediate effect till further orders the DDMA said On April 2 the Delhi government had lifted the penalty of Rs 500 for not wearing face masks at public places as cases were fairly under control for a few weeks before that As far as people travelling an private vehicles are concerned the Delhi government has modified its rules on at least two occasions this year On February 4 the DDMA had allowed single person travelling in a private vehicle to remain without masks From February 26 however it tweaked the rule to say that no fine for violating the mask norm will be imposed on people travelling together in a private vehicle Coronavirsu cases and positivity rate have been on the rise for the past few days in the national capitalOn Thursday it logged 965 fresh cases and one death A day before on Wednesday the number of fresh cases had crossed 1000 mark PTI VIT TIR TIR

New Delhi Apr 22 PTI Within three weeks of lifting its mask mandate the Delhi government Friday made masks mandatory at public places with immediate effect and imposed a fine of Rs 500 for any violation as coronavirus cases rise in the city againHowever those travelling together in a private four-wheeler are out of the purview of the new rule according to an order issued by the citys Health and Family Welfare Department Though the order does not mention if people travelling in hired cabs and taxis are required to wear masks a senior official said they are not exempt The Delhi Disaster Management AuthorityDDMA had in a meeting last Wednesday decided to make masks mandatory at public places with a fine of Rs 500 for any violationThe DDMA meeting attended by Lt Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal among others had noted that Covid case positivity rate has been increasing in Delhi over the past fortnight In its order on Friday the DDMA said it took the decision on fine after examining all relevant facts related to the issue of penal provisions for not adhering to the protocol of wearing masks at public placesA fine of Rs 500 for not wearing of face mask in all public places in Delhi will be imposed from immediate effect till further orders the DDMA said On April 2 the Delhi government had lifted the penalty of Rs 500 for not wearing face masks at public places as cases were fairly under control for a few weeks before that As far as people travelling an private vehicles are concerned the Delhi government has modified its rules on at least two occasions this year On February 4 the DDMA had allowed single person travelling in a private vehicle to remain without masks From February 26 however it tweaked the rule to say that no fine for violating the mask norm will be imposed on people travelling together in a private vehicle Coronavirsu cases and positivity rate have been on the rise for the past few days in the national capitalOn Thursday it logged 965 fresh cases and one death A day before on Wednesday the number of fresh cases had crossed 1000 mark PTI VIT TIR TIR

New Delhi Apr 22 PTI Within three weeks of lifting its mask mandate the Delhi government Friday made masks mandatory at public places with immediate effect and imposed a fine of Rs 500 for any violation as coronavirus cases rise in the city againHowever those travelling together in a private four-wheeler are out of the purview of the new rule according to an order issued by the citys Health and Family Welfare Department The order does not mention if people travelling in hired cabs and taxis will be required to wear masks The Delhi Disaster Management AuthorityDDMA had in a meeting last Wednesday decided to make masks mandatory at public places with a fine of Rs 500 for any violationThe DDMA meeting attended by Lt Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal among others had noted that Covid case positivity rate has been increasing in Delhi over the past fortnight In its order on Friday the DDMA said it took the decision on fine after examining all relevant facts related to the issue of penal provisions for not adhering to the protocol of wearing masks at public placesA fine of Rs 500 for not wearing of face mask in all public places in Delhi will be imposed from immediate effect till further orders the DDMA said On April 2 the Delhi government had lifted the penalty of Rs 500 for not wearing face masks at public places as cases were fairly under control for a few weeks before that As far as people travelling an private vehicles are concerned the Delhi government has modified its rules on at least two occasions this year On February 4 the DDMA had allowed single person travelling in a private vehicle to remain without masks From February 26 however it tweaked the rule to say that no fine for violating the mask norm will be imposed on people travelling together in a private vehicle Coronavirsu cases and positivity rate have been on the rise for the past few days in the national capitalOn Thursday it logged 965 fresh cases and one death A day before on Wednesday the number of fresh cases had crossed 1000 mark PTI VIT VIT TIR TIR

New Delhi Apr 22 PTI The Delhi government on Friday made masks mandatory at public places with immediate effect and imposed a fine of Rs 500 for any violationHowever the rule on fine will not be applicable on people travelling together in private vehicles The Health and Family Welfare Departments order comes in the wake of rising coronavirus cases in the cityThe Delhi Disaster Management AuthorityDDMA had in its meeting last Wednesday decided to make masks mandatory at public placesThrough an order on April 2 the Delhi government had lifted the penalty of Rs 500 on not wearing face masks at public places as cases were fairly under control then PTI VIT VIT TIR TIR

New Delhi Apr 20 PTI Schools in Delhi will continue in offline mode but they will have to ensure that Covid protocols are strictly followed officials said on WednesdayReports of infections from schools have triggered concerns weeks after they opened for offline classes following a two-year gap due to the pandemicExperts have been warning against closure of schools yet again citing learning lossesSchools will not be closed and will continue with offline classes Schools have been asked to report all cases to the education department and ensure that Covid protocols are followed strictly Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is constantly monitoring the situation in schools a senior official saidThe Delhi Disaster Management AuthorityDDMA in its meeting on Wednesday decided to come up with a separate Standard Operating Procedure SOP for schools in consultation with expertsDuring the crucial meeting chaired by Lt Governor Anil Baijal the Covid situation in Delhi was reviewed The DDMA decided to make wearing of masks mandatory in public places and impose a fine of Rs 500 on violatorsSchools across Delhi-NCR have sprung into action following a spike in Covid cases and are taking various measures including frequent sanitisation to restrict the spread of the virus to a minimum and thus avoid shutdown of the campusThe Haryana education department has directed schools in the state not to make it mandatory for students to attend physical classes at a time when scores of students and staff in institutes across NCR cities have been diagnosed with COVID-19The Delhi government had last week issued guidelines for schools asking them to close specific wings or classrooms wherever any student or teacher is found infected PTI GJS GJS TDS TDS

New Delhi Feb 26 PTI In a relief to people travelling together in private vehicles in Delhi the DDMA in an order on Saturday said no penalty will be imposed on them if found without masksThe penalty for not wearing face masks in public places was reduced from Rs 2000 to Rs 500 at a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management AuthorityDDMA on Fridayin relation to the clause 3h c whereby not wearing of face maskcover in all public places has been made an offence the penalty under this provision will not be applicable to persons travelling together in private four wheeler vehicles from February 28 the order saidThe Delhi High Court had on February 2 directed the DDMA to take a look into several orders issued by it in relation to COVID-19 protocols PTI VIT IJT

New Delhi Jan 26 PTI Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday advocated reopening of schools saying a generation of children will be left behind if we do not open schools now Sisodias comments came following a meeting with delegation of parents led by Chandrakant Lahariya an epidemiologist and public policy specialist The Delhi Disaster management Authority DDMA has called a meeting tomorrow to deliberate on easing curbs in the national capital in view of the improved situation of COVID-19 The issue of reopening schools is also on the agenda A delegation of parents of Delhis children led by DrLahariya AiyarYamini submitted a memorandum to me signed by more than 1600 parents for reopening of schools Why we are the last among major countries to decide on this Sisodia tweeted I agree with their demands We closed school when it was not safe for children but excessive caution is now harming our children A generation of children will be left behind if we do not open our schools now added Sisodia who is also Delhis Education Minister After being briefly reopened schools in Delhi were again closed on December 28 last year in view of the third wave of COVID-19 driven by the Omicron variant PTI GJS GJS RCJ RCJ RCJ

New Delhi Dec 27 PTI The citys COVID-19 case positivity rate remained above 05 per cent on the second consecutive day on Monday with Delhi government officials assessing the situation before taking a decision on sounding a yellow alert and imposing restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan GRAPDelhi on Monday recorded 331 COVID-19 cases the highest single-day rise since June 9 and one death while the positivity rate mounted to 068 per cent according to data shared by the city health departmentOn Sunday it recorded 290 cases with a positivity rate of 055 per cent and one fatality according to officials figuresFurther discussions on the situation will be held on Tuesday before a final call on sounding the Yellow alert and imposing restrictions as per the GRAP is taken said a senior Delhi government officerAlthough COVID-19 cases are rising in Delhi and positivity rate has breached the 05 per cent mark but hospitalisations are very low and fatality rate is negligible Any decision about implementation of Yellow alert restrictions will be taken after further discussions said the officerSources in the government said that authorities were considering all options available to ensure that the purpose of COVID-19 management and needs of the people in Delhi are best servedThe GRAP approved by Delhi Disaster Management AuthorityDDMA prescribes sounding of the Yellow alert if positivity rate remains above 05 percent for two consecutive daysIt involves restrictions including night curfew closure of schools and colleges alternate day opening of shops of non-essential items and halved seating capacity in metro trains and public transport buses among othersThe DDMA in view of rising COVID-19 cases has already imposed night curfew in Delhi that will remain in force from 11 pm to 5 pm till further ordersOfficials said that although the Yellow alert needs to be sounded if positivity rate stays above 05 per cent for two days but the DDMA can make necessary amendments and modifications with respect to the GRAP according to the situation which is assessed from time to time to meet exigenciesIf the Yellow alert is sounded on Tuesday most activities will come to a grinding halt just a few months after phased reopening from the second wave lockdown which was imposed in AprilThe GRAP was approved by DDMA in its meeting in July in anticipation of a third wave of COVID-19 in Delhi It was meant to have a clearer picture of imposition and lifting of restrictions accordg to the prevailing COVID situationThe Yellow alert restrictions stipulate that shops and establishments of non-essential goods and services and malls will open based on odd-even formula from 10 AM to 8 PMOnly one weekly market per zone with 50 per cent vendors will be allowed to openRestaurants will be permitted with 50 per cent capacity from 8 am to 10 pm while bars can also operate with the same capacity but from 12 noon to 10 pmMarriages and funerals will be allowed attendance of 20 persons while all other types of gathering related to social political cultural religious and festival events will be prohibited the GRAP stipulatesAlso the Delhi Metro will run at 50 per cent of its seating capacity while auto-rickshaws and cabs can ferry up to two passengers Buses too will ply with only 50 per cent exempted category passengersBesides cinema halls banquet halls spas gyms outdoor yoga activity amusement parks stadia swimming pools schools colleges and educational institutions will not be allowed if Yellow alert is soundedPrivate offices can function with up to 50 per cent of the staff In Delhi government offices also barring certain category of officials only half of the remaining staff will be allowed under Yellow alertFurther religious places will open but visitors will not be allowed Parks and gardens can however openThe colour-coded GRAP is based on positivity rate on two consecutive days cumulative number of new cases over a week and average oxygenated-bed occupancy for a week will designate four levels of alertsFurther restrictions are imposed at advanced stages of Amber Orange and Red alerts with higher numbers of new cases and hospitalisations PTI VIT ANB ANB