Delhi weekend curfew: Over 1,300 booked for Covid violation

New Delhi, Jan 16 (IANS) Delhi Police have booked as many as 1,320 people in the national capital for violating Covid norms on the first day of the second weekend curfew in the national capital, an official said on Sunday.

"A total of 1,320 Covid challan were issued on Saturday, January 15," the official said.

To curb further spread of Covid-19, the national capital currently remains under a stringent curfew from 10 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday.

Apart from Covid violation, the official said, FIRs were registered against 479 people under section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code.

Triggered by the Omicron variant, Covid-19 situation in Delhi is grim, however, according to Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain, the city is likely to witness a slight dip in the cases. "The capital city is expected to witness around 17,000 cases today," the Health Minister said.

The police have requested the residents to adhere to the weekend curfew guidelines and follow the Covid-19 appropriate behaviour.

Earlier, during the first weekend lockdown on January 8-9, nearly 1,500 people in the national capital were booked for violating the Covid norms.

Meanwhile, Jain emphasized that the curb and restrictions like night curfew and weekend curfew imposed by the Delhi government have started yielding results as less numbers of Covid cases are being reported in the city from last two-three days. "The cases have started declining from last three days in the city now. We will observe the daily trajectory for three-four more days", said Jain on the question of easing the curbs in the city.

He also pointed out that most of the patients who died of Covid infections were comorbid or unvaccinated.