21 Aug , 2021 By : Kanchan Joshi
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said restrictions on timings to open markets amid Covid-19 have been lifted from Monday and markets will be allowed to function as per normal timings.
Earlier, the Delhi government had allowed markets to remain open only till 8 pm in view of Covid-19 cases. However, with cases and positivity rate under control, the new relaxations will be effective from next week.
The decision comes in the backdrop of Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) on demanding that the closing time of malls and markets in the national capital should be extended from the present 8 pm to 10 pm.
In its letter to the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), the CTI said the permission to operate shops till 8 pm is proving to be insufficient for most of the retail markets, especially during the festive season.
According to the CTI, the markets get "crowded" and "chaotic" as soon the clock hits 8 pm, something that can be taken care of by extending the duration of its closing time.
"If the shops will open till late in the evening, then there will be no crowd in the market. Everyone will be able to do their work comfortably, Corona rules will also be followed well," it added.
Delhi was under a lockdown from April 19 to May 30 during the second wave of the Covid pandemic. Markets were allowed to open from June 7 under a phased reopening plan by the city government.
Meanwhile, no death due to COVID-19 was recorded in Delhi on Saturday, the second consecutive day the daily fatality count stood nil, while 19 fresh cases were reported, the lowest since April 15 last year, according to data shared by the city health department.
This is the twelfth time since the starting of the second wave of the pandemic in the national capital that zero fatality has been logged in a day.
On Saturday, 19 fresh cases were recorded as the positivity rate dropped to 0.03 per cent, according to the latest bulletin.
According to covid19India.org, a crowdsourced initiative that collects data on COVID-19 and vaccination in India, Delhi had recorded 17 cases on April 15, 2020.
On Friday, 57 fresh cases were reported with a positivity rate of 0.08 per cent.
Twenty-five cases of COVID-19 and two deaths due to the disease were recorded on Thursday, while the positivity rate had stood at 0.04 per cent, according to the official figures.
On Wednesday, the city had registered 36 cases and four fatalities, while the positivity rate had stood at 0.05 per cent.
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