Driving out for New Year's celebrations? Night curfew imposed in Delhi

Ahead of the New Year, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority on Thursday imposed a night curfew in Delhi, disallowing celebrations and the assembly of over five people at public places in light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the new strain of the virus.

As per an order signed by Chief Secretary of Delhi Vijay Dev, no new year celebratory events, congregations, and gatherings at public places will be permitted from 11 pm of December 31 to 6 am of January 1, and also from 11 pm of January 1 to 6 am of January of 2.

"A detailed assessment of the situation in Delhi has been made and considering the threat posed by the mutant UK strain of Covid-19 virus and after observing the local incidents of Covid-19 pandemic in Delhi, it is apprehended that gatherings, congregations, and public celebrations of New Year pose a considerable threat of the spread of the virus and may cause a setback to the appreciable gains made in the suppression of chain of transmission of Covid-19 cases in Delhi," the order said.

There will, however, be no restriction on the interstate and intrastate movement of persons and goods during the curfew period.

With this, Delhi joins the Punjab, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Rajasthan in the imposition of the night curfew to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

As many as 677 new Covid-19 cases and 21 deaths were reported in Delhi in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 6,24,795, including 5,838 active cases and 6,08,434.

A total of 10,523 deaths have been reported here so far.