COVID-19: For Private Offices in Delhi, It’s Back to Work From Home

DELHI, NEW DELHI: To stem the tide of Covid-19 cases, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) issued an order on Tuesday ordering all private offices, with the exception of those in exempted categories, to remain closed. It also ordered the shutdown of pubs and restaurants, with takeaway and home delivery being the only options. 

Over 19,000 new cases were registered in Delhi yesterday, somewhat less than the 22,751 reported on Sunday. Yesterday, the rate of positivity reached 25%, the highest level since May 5. In addition, the city reported 17 deaths.

Apart from banks and financial institutions, private companies that have been allowed to function include insurance and mediclaim firms, pharmaceutical units, courier services, and law firms, if courts, tribunals, or inquiry commissions are in operation. 

Others included in the vital services category include educational materials for students, veterinary and animal care, telephones, Internet, television and cable, IT and IT-enabled services, and so forth. Exemptions have been made for cold storage and warehousing, aircraft and related services, data centers, cloud services, and other services.

Previously, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., all private offices were allowed to operate with up to 50% of their workforce. Offices in the exempted category, on the other hand, were allowed to operate with 100 percent attendance.

LG Anil Baijal presided over the meeting that made the decisions. According to the DDMA order, "Over the last few days, Covid-19 cases (including the extremely contagious and transmissible Omicron Variant) have been quickly growing, and positive arte has been above 23%. As a result, it was deemed necessary to apply some further restrictions in order to contain the virus's spread ".

According to the DDMA's Graded Response Action Plan, all private offices must remain closed, with the exception of those that fall under the exempted category (GRAP). "The practice of working from home must be adhered to. All restaurants and bars must close their doors. Restaurants, on the other hand, will only be permitted to deliver or take food to customers' homes ", it continued. 

Apart from all the other limitations in place under GRAP Level 1 (yellow alert), the night curfew and weekend curfew could be maintained for the time being. 

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who previously stated that the Delhi government had no intention of enforcing a comprehensive curfew, repeated his position on Tuesday. He went on to say that the government wants the flood of Covid-19 cases to subside with the least number of restrictions being imposed. 

The peak has arrived, or will arrive in the next day or two. It (the climax) will undoubtedly occur this week. Following that, cases should begin to fall. However, it's probable that another curfew would be imposed, merely to remind people not to relax their vigilance," Mr Jain told NDTV on Monday. 

In the last 24 hours, 1,68,063 new COVID-19 cases have been registered in India. The number of cases has decreased by 11,660, and the positive rate has dropped from 13% to roughly 10%. 

According to sources in the Delhi government, there has been debate about reducing the seating capacity of the Delhi Metro and public transport buses to 50% from the present 100%, although the change is expected to result in crowding at bus stops and outside Metro Stations.