No Night Curfew For Now, Delhi Govt Informs High Court After Assessing COVID-19 Situation

New Delhi, December 3: No night curfew would be implemented in the national capital or any part of it for now, the Delhi government informed the Delhi High Court on Wednesday. The submission came days after the government counsel had told the bench that a decision on curbs during the night hours was under consideration. Uttar Pradesh Govt to Test People Arriving in State From Delhi For COVID-19.

The Delhi government, in its response filed before the court today, said it has assessed the COVID-19 situation in the national capital and decided neither to impose a blanket night curfew nor area-specific restrictions. However, strict action against those violating the safety norms will continue, it added.

The High Court was informed by the government that a fine of Rs 17 crore was collected so far, with over 2 lakh challans issued for violation of the COVID-19 safety rules. In addition to the fine collected by municipal bodies, the Delhi Police has collected Rs 27 crore in form of penalties with over 5 lakh challans issued.

Update by ANI

Delhi witnessed a surge in infections last month, which had compelled the court to question the government's handling of the crisis. The active case load had neared 50,000 in mid-November, and the per-day case count had peaked to over 8,500. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had called the surge in infections a "third wave" of the pandemic in the Indian capital.

The pace of transmission in Delhi, however, has declined since the peak witnessed at the start of last month. The per-day infection has remained below 4,000 for most of the past 10 days. The AAP government has acted cautiously on imposing curbs to prevent another setback to the region's economy.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 03, 2020 02:24 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).