Following a dip in Covid-19 cases, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Friday decided to reopen schools for students in Class 9 to 12 in a phased manner from Monday (February 7). It has also allowed gyms to reopen, but with restrictions.
“Several restrictions have been lifted following talks with DDMA. The livelihood of people will now be back on track. Schools for Classes 9 to 12 will be reopened from Monday while following a hybrid model. If cases continue to decline, schools will be allowed to run on a hybrid mode only in the coming days,” Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia after the meeting.
He added, “Schools for Nursery to Class VIII will be reopened from February 14. Till then, all the schools should make arrangements and implement Covid protocols. Teachers who are unvaccinated will not be permitted to take classes.”
The government also directed all higher educational institutions to go for offline classes. “All higher educational institutions, colleges, ITIs, polytechnic and skill institutes will open from Monday and will only take offline classes. Students are studying online for the last two years and batches have passed without even seeing the face of colleges due to Covid. Now, as the cases are declining, the higher institutions and colleges should discourage online classes and take only physical classes,” the Deputy Chief Minister added.
Restaurants will also be allowed to remain open till 11 pm, instead if the 10 pm deadline. “Currently, the restaurants were running from 8 am to 10 pm. Now, all restaurants will remain open till 11 pm,” the minister informed.
The night curfew in the city will continue to remain, but will start from 11 pm instead of the current 10 pm deadline. It will, however, continue till 5 am in the morning. All government offices have now been allowed to function with 100 per cent staff.
Further, observing the recent High Court order on wearing masks inside personal cars, the DDMA has exempted single drivers from wearing masks inside vehicles. However, masks are a must if there are more than one person in the car.
Restrictions on spas and swimming pools have also been lifted. Delhi recorded 2886 cases, 13 deaths and 4.3 percent positivity rate on Thursday.
Source: The Indian Express