Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. (Photo Credit: ANI)
New Delhi:
The Delhi government on Thursday announced that all restaurants in the national capital will remain shut till March 31 amid the coronavirus outbreak. However, takeaway and home delivery services will continue. “Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal has asked all government departments, autonomous bodies, and PSUs to segregate activities and suspend non-essential services,” Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said at a press conference. The chief minister also said that all non-essential government services will be discontinued from Friday.
Social, cultural and political gatherings with more than 20 people are not allowed across the national capital to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus disease, he said.
“We have succeeded in keeping coronavirus at the containment stage and it is not at community level,” Kejriwal said.
Kejriwal also asked those directed to go in quarantine to follow all rules otherwise strict action may be taken against them. The coronavirus has claimed one life in Delhi and infected 10 people.
The coronavirus outbreak in Delhi has alarmed the residents of the city with many choosing to maintain minimal physical contact in public places, avoiding use of public transport as much as possible, and deserted restaurants painting a gloomy picture.
From plush Connaught Place to Karol Bagh market, both otherwise bustling with crowds on Tuesday, wore a sparse look, with shipowners waiting for customers and parking lots having less cars than usual.
Suresh Kumar, 45, an auto-rickshaw driver, said, he has never seen Delhi like this before.
“Such gloomy feel to the city. I have been driving an auto-rickshaw since mid-90s here, but I have never seen CP like this. It is always so full of life, people jostling to hire an auto, but since morning i have had just three riders. It doesn’t feel good,” he told PTI.
Kumar says, the coronavirus epidemic has not just destroyed the health of people, its aftermath has “scared people to the core”.
A businessman, who has a shop in Connaught Place, on the condition of anonymity, said, “I have stopped using phone and other objects of people, and politely tell them no. It is for my safety, though it may sound rude.”
With PTI Inputs
