How Life Will Change In City

Cinema halls shut till March 31, malls told to sanitise premisesAll schools & colleges, barring exam centres, closed till March 31

- Gulam Jeelani

The curbs announced in Delhi on Thursday are nowhere close to crippling shutdowns in some of the COVID-19-affected countries. But life in the National Capital will change dramatically.

Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Anil Baijal, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and top officials went into a huddle after Delhi reported its sixth case. The government has declared Coronavirus an epidemic.

All cinema halls, public swimming pools and schools & colleges — where exams are not being held — will remain shut till March 31, CM Kejriwal announced after the meeting chaired by L-G Baijal. ITIs, polytechnics, universities and coaching centres will be closed too during this period.

“Your kid doesn’t have to go to school. He can’t go to a movie. Going to a shopping mall is also risky. Swimming pools are ruled out too. But these curbs are needed to check the Coronavirus spread, I guess,” said Sonali Das, a homemaker in South Delhi.

It was also decided that government and private offices, malls, markets and other public places will be sanitised every day. “We need to exercise abundant caution to contain the disease. People are advised to stay away from gatherings,” the CM said.

Kejriwal also said that the vacant flats owned by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board and under-construction hospitals like the one in Burari will be used as quarantine facilities if needed. “We have more than 500 quarantine beds ready in various hospitals across the city,” he said.