Updated: November 19, 2020 6:44:12 pm
Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi.
On Thursday, the Delhi High Court detained the AAP government led by Arvind Kejriwal over rising coronavirus cases in the city, and said why it waited to take precautions such as reducing the number of wedding attendees when cases spiked afterward. November 1.
“Why did they wait 18 days to restrict the number of wedding goers, how many died from Covid-19 during this period,” the high court said.
“They pulled you out of sleep, you turned into a turtle after we asked questions,” the higher court added.
“We certainly cannot be silent bystanders to a situation that is deteriorating. We will not be silent observers. He was not working since November 1 in the courtrooms until very recently and that is worrying us… We are not here to get him out of his dream, ”said the court.
The HC noted that the amount of the fine for not wearing masks, not maintaining social distancing did not appear to be an impediment to controlling cases. “Those who do not leave their homes become infected due to the carelessness of others,” the superior court said.
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“We are not saying that you are the only one responsible, citizens are also responsible and are supposed to take precautions. If they don’t, they are supposed to apply it in such a way that they don’t transmit the infection to others, ”he added. Follow Live Coronavirus India Updates
Last week, the court had questioned the government Decision of November 1 to increase the limit of number of guests allowed at weddings to 200. He had also asked the government to present a situation report on or before November 18, explaining the steps taken in the last two weeks to control the Covid-19 situation in the national capital.
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Following this, the AAP government sought to reverse its relaxation rules and reduce the number of wedding attendees to 50. The government has also written to the Center to allow local closures in markets that may emerge as Covid hotspots. The court also ordered the government to implement its plan to increase 660 ICU beds in hospitals by next week.
The court ordered the state government to submit a status report outlining the steps taken to ensure that proper arrangements are made at all crematoria and all other burial sites to perform the last rites of those who have succumbed to infection by Covid-19. Cremation fields are overflowing and funeral pyres burn at night, the court observed.
The court has confirmed the decision of the government of Ban the celebration of Chhath Puja in public places in the national capital, pointing out that the right to health must first be respected.
On Wednesday, Delhi recorded 7,486 fresh Covid cases, bringing the count to 5.03,084, while 131 more deaths brought the death toll to 7,943. This was the highest number of deaths reported in the city so far.
The positivity rate in Delhi, which had fallen to 6 percent in September, has been consistently above 11 percent for the past two weeks, crossing 15 percent on some days. Experts had warned of an increase in the number of cases taking into account the festival season.
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In the wake of the increase in Covid-19 cases, Interior Minister Amit Shah held a meeting on Sunday, in which Kejriwal was also present. On Wednesday, the Center announced a series of measures to curb the surge in virus cases in the national capital, including increasing the testing capacity to 60,000 RT-PCR tests per day by the end of November, completing the house-to-house survey. before November 25. doubling ICU beds at DRDO’s facilities near Delhi airport to 500 in the next four days and making 800 beds available via Indian railways, among others.
The Home Office (MHA) has already constituted 10 teams of officials and doctors who are inspecting private hospitals in Delhi on the containment and treatment of Covid.
CM Kejriwal has said that the government has asked the Center for permission to modify the guidelines to close markets if necessary. There was massive overcrowding in the markets in the lead up to Diwali and merchants and market goers ignored social distancing rules.
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