In Delhi, religious places allowed to stay open on Christmas, New Year despite COVID curbs

A day after a series of stringent measures was announced by the Delhi government ahead of Christmas and New Year, given the rapidly rising cases of Omicron variant in the national capital, the state administration on Thursday clarified that the religious places will be allowed to remain open for public visit on Christmas and New Year, and the restrictions placed on the celebrations of the festivals will not be implied on the religious places. 

The order came a day after the Delhi government announced a slew of strict measures, in consultation with the health officials and placed a ban on all the upcoming New Year and Christmas parties in the NCT of Delhi. The measures were taken after the cases of Omicron variant shot up in Delhi to 57, which was the maximum among all states. But now, a day after a day, 7 more cases of the new variant were detected in the capital raising the tally to 64.
 

Measures imposed to control COVID Surge

1. All District Magistrates, as well as District DCPs, shall tighten up their enforcement machinery and shall deploy a sufficient number of enforcement teams on the field for keeping utmost vigil at public places and for enforcing COVID Appropriate Behaviour strictly to avoid any possible further surge in Covid-19 cases especially considering the upcoming Christmas festival and New Year etc. 
2. All District Magistrates shall convene meetings with the office bearers of RWAS and MTAS under their respective jurisdiction to inform them about the increasing trend of COVID cases. As well as the emergence of the Omicron variant in NCT of Delhi and its possible threat, so that they may further sensitize their members/residents/shopkeepers.
3. All District Magistrates shall upscale IEC Campaign in their respective areas and implement the same in mission mode to ensure that residents of NCT of Delhi follow and imbibe the COVID appropriate behaviour. 
4.  All social/political / sports/entertainment / cultural/ religious / festival related gatherings and congregations are completely prohibited in Delhi, hence all District Magistrates and District DCPs shall ensure no cultural gatherings for celebrating Christmas and New Year in NCT of Delhi.
5. All social-political/cultural, religious / festival-related gatherings and congregations are prohibited throughout the NCT of Delhi. All restaurants and bars are allowed up to 60% of the seating capacity. Auditoriums / Assembly halls are allowed up to 20% of the seating capacity.