According to Safar, the AQI of Maharashtra's Capital measured at 245 at on Monday morning. The Mazegaon area of Mumbai measured 'very poor' at AQI 301, whereas the AQI of Chembur measured at 321 (Poor).

The air quality in the national capital remained in the 'very poor category' with AQI recorded at 337.

New Delhi [India], October 19 (ANI): An emergency meeting of the Sub-Committee for operationalization of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) of the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) was held on Wednesday, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change informed on Wednesday.

New Delhi [India], October 11 (ANI): To manage the issue of air pollution in Delhi and NCR region, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav held a virtual meeting with the Environment Ministers of NCR region, GNCTD and Punjab to review the activities being undertaken and planned by the States.

New Delhi Dec 30 PTI Omicron is gradually spreading in the community and the new fast-spreading variant of concern has been found in 54 per cent of the latest samples analysed in Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on ThursdayHe said stringent curbs have been put in place as part of the Graded Response Action Plan GRAP to check the spread of COVID-19 and the Delhi Disaster Management Authority DDMA will decide on implementing more restrictionsHowever a statement from Jains office said According to GRAP a Yellow alert has been issued in Delhi For the time being the government has decided not to issue a Level 2 alert Alerts will be issued according to GRAP in Delhi It also said 54 per cent of the new cases in the capital have tested positive for the Omicron variantEarlier in the day Jain had said The latest genome sequencing report showed 46 per cent of the cases have Omicron These people include those who do not have any travel history It means Omicron is now inside Delhi An official said the data was updated in the eveningIndeed the variant is gradually spreading in the community and its proportion will increase in the coming days Jain said when asked if Omicron will be the dominant variant in an imminent third wave of the pandemicHe also said of the 200 coronavirus cases in Delhi hospitals only 102 belong to the city Also 115 patients are those who were directly taken to hospitals from the airportOf the hospitalised Covid patients in Delhi 115 do not have any symptoms and have been kept in hospitals as a precautionary measure None of the hospitalised patients is on oxygen support Jain saidThe statement from the ministers office said the Delhi government has decided to open four step-down Covid care centres at Teerapath Bhawan Sardar Patel Covid Care Centre Commonwealth Games Village and IBIS HotelA step-down Covid Care Centre is used when a hospitalised patients health improves and he or she does not require medical attention at a hospitalThe patient is then sent to the step-down Covid Care Centre where he or she is looked after by healthcare workers Each Covid Care Centre can cater to 100 to 500 patientsThe Delhi government has also issued instructions to all its hospitals to keep a buffer stock of medicines for three months Jain saidThe Delhi health minister had on Wednesday said many international travellers who tested Covid-negative at the airport were found to be positive for the disease after a few days During this period they were infecting their family membersDelhi has imposed stringent curbs on gatherings including weddings and funerals schools gyms and spas have been closed shops and malls will open on alternate days and metro trains and buses will operate at 50 per cent capacity It is better to be precautious Jain said adding a decision on more restrictions will be taken at a DDMA meetingHe said countries like the US and France have recorded their highest number of daily cases amid the spread of Omicron but the good news is that it does not cause severe infection and very few patients need hospitalisationThe DDMA had on Wednesday decided that Covid-related restrictions imposed in Delhi under the yellow alert would continue for the time being and authorities would monitor the situation for a while before deciding on fresh curbsOn Tuesday it had declared a yellow alert under the GRAP in the city amid a spike in coronavirus cases following the emergence of the Omicron variantThe yellow alert entails restrictions like night curfew closure of schools and colleges opening of shops selling non-essential items on an odd-even basis and halved seating capacity in Metro trains and buses among other thingsThe 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 for designated four levels of alertsAfter the yellow alert further restrictions are imposed at advanced stages of amber orange and red with a higher number of new cases and hospitalisationsAccording to official figures out of the 8965 dedicated Covid beds 262 or 292 per cent were occupied and 97 per cent were vacant on December 28 PTI GVS DIV DIV

New Delhi Dec 28 PTI The national capital on Tuesday registered a massive spike in daily COVID-19 with 496 fresh cases the highest since June 4 while the positivity rate also rose to 089 per cent along with one fatality due to coronavirus in the cityThe total number of cases of new Omicron variant of COVID-19 recorded in Delhi has also mounted to 165There were 67 Omicron cases in the national capital on FridayAccording to the health department 120 travellers who tested positive on their arrival at the IGI Airport have been admitted to hospitals in the last 24 hours Their samples would be sent for genome sequencingThe 50 per cent jump in daily COVID-19 cases was reported hours after a Yellow alert was implemented in the national capital under which schools colleges cinemas and gyms will remain closed shops dealing in non-essential items will open on odd-even basis and metro trains will run with 50 per cent of seating capacityThe Delhi Disaster Management Authority also extended the timing of the night curfew imposed from Monday night by an hour and it will now begin at 10 pm and will remain till 5 amIn view of a rise in Omicron cases the authorities in Delhi had begun genome sequencing of samples of daily COVID-19 cases on December 22 to ascertain if the new variant has spread in the communityEarlier in the day officials at LNJP said 56 out of 70 Omicron patients have been discharged Three of the patients did not have travel history but had come in contact with those who were infected at a wedding in Rajasthan These can be called sporadic cases they saidAccording to officials at Batra Hospital five Omicron patients are admitted there and another seven patients are COVID positive but their genome sequencing reports were still awaitedSeven others have been discharged after testing negative for Omicron variant they said and added that every patient is asymptomatic and all had a travel historyThe latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department however did not specify the variants detectedTuesdays figures are the highest since June 4 when Delhi recorded 523 fresh COVID-19 cases and 50 fatalities while the positivity rate stood at 068 per cent official figures statedThe positivity rate of 089 per cent is the highest since May 31 when it stood at 099 per centDelhi on Monday had recorded 331 fresh 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 the dataOn Sunday Delhi logged 290 cases with a positivity rate of 055 per cent and one fatality according to official figures On Saturday and on Friday the daily case counts were 249 and 180 respectivelyIn accordance with Level-1 alert under the graded response action plan GRAP private offices will function with physical attendance of 50 per cent of the staff barring essential categoriesMarriages and funerals will be allowed attendance of 20 people while all other types of gathering related to social political cultural religious and festival events will be prohibited under the yellow alert that came into force with immediate effectShops of non-essential goods and services in markets and malls can open based on odd-even formula from 10 AM to 8 PM Restaurants will be permitted with 50 percent of capacity from 8 am to 10 pm while bars can also operate with the same capacity but from 12 noon to 10 pmSeven COVID-19 deaths were reported in November in Delhi this year according to the official dataAccording to the bulletin a total of 55 865 tests were conducted a day ago including 48801 RTPCRCBNAATTrue Nat tests while the rest were rapid antigen testsThe number of active cases mounted to 1612 from 1289 on Monday according to the bulletinThe bulletin said that 34 patients are in ICUIt stated that apart from those in ICU all other patients in hospitals are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic The number of people under home isolation stood at 692 on Monday while it rose to 836 on Tuesday and the number of containment zones in the city stood at 397 a significant jump from 310 on Monday the bulletin said PTI SLB BUN PYK PYK

New Delhi Dec 28 PTI Schools colleges and training and coaching institutions in the national capital will remain closed as the DDMA has declared a yellow alert amid a spike in COVID-19 cases following the emergence of the virus Omicron variantWhile the development evoked mixed reactions from parents other stakeholders including school principals and education experts raised concern about increasing learning gapsThe alert which comes under the Graded Response Action Plan GRAP follows the national capitals biggest single-day spike in COVID-19 infections in over six months on Monday when 331 new cases were reported with a positivity rate of 067 per centThe GRAP had been approved by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority DDMA in July in anticipation of a third wave of COVID-19 in Delhi The plan gives a clearer picture of imposition and lifting of restrictions according to the situationUnder the yellow alert school colleges training and coaching institutions as well as libraries are supposed to be closedSchools were allowed to reopen from December 18 for students above class 6 after being closed in view of alarming pollution levels in Delhi The government had then announced that physical classes for students up to class five can begin from December 27President of the Delhi Parents Association DPA Aprajita Gautam said the constant closing and reopening of schools has had an undeniably deteriorating effect on mental health of students We have all witnessed the total failure of planning and execution from the government this year Schools constantly closing and reopening has had an undeniably deteriorating effect on students mental health Gautam saidThe expected high pollution levels and the schools closing again for the nth time could have been dealt in a better planned manner There is always a fear of uncertainty in minds of our students the DPA president said The government should have been prudent in its approach to decisions and not just making them in haste without any concern for the future Gautam said President of the All India Parents Association AIPA Ashok Agarwal said schools have been closed without any justification or scientific basisOne can understand taking precautions but closing schools and colleges is no solution In neighbouring states schools are open then what is special in Delhi to close schools he saidSchools and colleges have faced frequent closures due to the Covid pandemic since March last year ahead of a nationwide lockdown in view of coronavirusPrincipal of a top private school who did not wish to be identified said There is absolutely no plan as to how these extremely widening learning gaps will be filled if this continues for long Health cannot be compromised but its high time we start working on a long-term plan which is workable the principal saidTanya Agarwal a lawyer and a parent of a Class I student who has been vocal about long term negative effect of school closures tweeted Clearly Delhi government doesnt care about kids and dont care about COVID Because they have once again decided to keep bars and restaurants open but close schools ShamefulBesides school and colleges according to the set of restrictions under the alert cinemas and gyms have been also closedIt also puts various restrictions on functioning of shops and public transport like establishments of non-essential goods and services and malls will open based on odd-even formula from 10 AM to 8 PM while the Delhi Metro will run at 50 per cent of its seating capacity PTI GJS GJS ANB ANB

New Delhi, December 28: The Delhi government on Tuesday declared a yellow alert in the national capital amid rise in COVID-19 cases and the Omicron scare. The alert has been sounded under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). The announcement was made by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during a press conference. The night curfew […]

New Delhi Dec 28 PTI Amid a rise in COVID-19 cases the Delhi Disaster Management Authority on Tuesday ordered closure of schools colleges cinemas and gyms with immediate effect and put various restrictions on the functioning of shops and public transport as a yellow alert was sounded under the Graded Response Action Plan GRAP The 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 PM The timing of night curfew imposed from Monday night has also been extended by an hour and it will now begin at 10 pm The night curfew from 10 pm to 5 am will remain in force till further orders stated the order issued by the DDMA Marriages 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 Also the Delhi Metro will run at 50 per cent of its seating capacity while auto-rickshaws and cabs can ferry up to two passengers Busses too will ply at 50 per cent of capacity with exempted category passengers says the GRAP After a high-level meeting to review the pandemic situation in the national capital Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said earlier in the day that a decision has been taken to issue yellow alert in view of fast rising cases of infections The DDMA order stated that all the restrictions as per yellow alert will be enforced with immediate effect The GRAP approved by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority DDMA prescribes sounding of yellow alert if positivity rate remains above 05 per cent for two consecutive days Delhi on Monday recorded 331 fresh 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 department Positivity rate was 055 per cent on Sunday The yellow alert restrictions stipulate that only one weekly market per zone with 50 per cent vendors will be allowed to open Restaurants 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 pm Besides 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 sounded Private 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 the yellow alert Further religious places will open but visitors will not be allowed Parks and gardens can however open The 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 alerts Further restrictions are imposed at advanced stages of Amber Orange and Red alerts with higher numbers of new cases and hospitalisations PTI VITSLB SMN SMN

New Delhi [India], December 28 (ANI): Amid the surging COVID-19 cases following the emergence of Omicron variant in the national capital and positivity rate above 0.50 per cent for two consecutive days, restrictions have been imposed under yellow alert as per the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) under which Delhi Metro, restaurants, bars will operate at 50 per cent capacity.