Delhi Schools, Gyms to Reopen as Covid Curbs Ease, Night Curfew Pushed to 11 pm | What's Open & Shut

Delhi schools are set to reopen for physical classes from February 7 amid decline in coronavirus cases and positivity rate, the Kejriwal government announced on Friday after a meeting of Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) authority. Along with the reopening of schools, night curfew will now begin from 11 pm instead of 10 pm. Both government and private offices have been given permission to function with 100 per cent capacity.

The government said that vaccination of students in the age group of 15 to 18 years will be enhanced before reopening of classes nineth to twelfth from Monday. Delhi on Thursday reported 2,668 fresh cases and 13 deaths, while the positivity rate dropped to 4.3 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department.

What’s Open and Shut in Delhi

• Delhi government said that coaching institutes can reopen in accordance to standard operating procedure (SoPs) and strict adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour. However, colleges will only be in offline mode.

• Unvaccinated teachers will not be allowed to attend classes.

• Offices can now function with 100% attendance.

• Single drivers in cars to be exempted from masks. This comes days after the Delhi High Court termed as absurd the government order making it compulsory to wear a mask while driving alone. “Why don’t you withdraw it? It is absurd actually. You are sitting in your own car and you must wear the mask?” the bench had said.

• Gyms to open with restrictions. Reacting to the announcement, the Delhi Gym Association said that this will help five lakh families to survive financial crisis triggered by the pandemic. They added that the move will help Delhiites “get back on the track of fitness”. The association assured that they will follow the SoPs.

• Restaurants can operate till 11pm. Spas too will reopen from Monday.

In the last DDMA meeting, the Delhi government had recommended reopening of schools, saying it was necessary to prevent further damage to the social and economic well-being of children as the Covid-19 situation in the capital had improved. Asserting that online education can never replace classroom studies, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had said the government had closed schools when it was not safe for children, but “excessive caution” was harming them.

A delegation of parents led by Chandrakant Lahariya, an epidemiologist and public policy specialist, had earlier met Sisodia and submitted a memorandum signed by over 1,600 parents demanding that schools be reopened. Schools in the city were briefly reopened before being closed again on December 28 last year in view of the third wave of Covid-19 driven by the Omicron variant.

On January 27, DDMA lifted the weekend curfew and odd-even restrictions in marketplaces, while also allowing cinema halls, restaurants and bars to reopen with a 50% cap on seating.

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