COVID 19 : Delhi To Be Under Lockdown From March 23 Till March 31; Essential Services Exempted

In view of the COVID19 outbreak, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi has decided to impose lockdown in its jurisdiction from March 23, 6 AM till March 31 midnight.

An order in this regard was issued by the Department of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday evening invoking the powers under the Delhi Epidemic Diseases COVID 19 Regulations 2020 and the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897.

As per the order, the following restrictions will be in place :

1. No public transport services including operation of private buses, taxis, autorickshaws, rickshaws and e-rickshaws shall be permitted. Only DTC buses shall operate at not more than 25% capacity to cater to personnel engaged in essential services.
2. All shops, commercial establishments, factories, workshops, offices, godowns, weekly bazars etc shall close their operations.
3. The motorable and unmotorable borders of NCT of Delhi with the neighbouring states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh shall be sealed.
4. Movements of inter-state buses/trains/metro(DMRC) shall be suspended.
5. All domestic/international flights arriving to Delhi during the period shall be suspended.
6. Construction activity of any kind shall be suspended.
7. All religious places of any denomination shall be closed.
8. People are required to stay at home and come out only for basic services (as enumerated below) within the vicinity of their residences while strictly following social distancing guidelines issued earlier.

The following service/activities are excluded from the purview of the order :

1. Offices charged with law and order and magisterial duties.
2. Police.
3. Health.
4. Fire.
5. Prisons.
6. Fair price shop (Public Distribution Systems).
7. Electricity.
8. Water.
9. Municipal Services.
10. Activities related to functioning of Legislative Assembly, Delhi.
11. Pay and Accounts Offices (only for salary/wages/contingent/health and essential services related expenditue).
12. Print and Electronic Media.
13. Cashier/Teller operations of banks (including ATMs).
14. Telecom, internet and postal services.
15. E-commerce and all essential goods including food, pharmaceutical and medical equipments
16. Food items, groceries (fruits/vegetables/milk/bakery items/, meat, fish etc).
17. Milk plants.
18. General provision stores.
19. Take away/home delivery in restaurants
20. Chemists and pharmacies.
21. Petrol pumps, LPG/Oil Agencies (including their godown and transportation related activities).
22. Animal fodder.
23. Manufacturing, processing, transportation, distribution, storage, trade/commerce and logistics related to all above services/establishments.
24. Any other essential service/establishment that may be exempted by the Government.

People who engage in the essential services should follow guidelines and protocol related to social distancing.

People who come out to provide or avail essential services shall be allowed on self declaration.

Any congregation of more than 5 persons is strictly prohibited.

Employees of private establishments (including temporary/contractual/outsourced etc) required to stay at home and shall be treated as "on duty" and be paid in full.

Any person found to be violating the order will be punishable as per the relevant provisions of law.

Earlier in the day, the Delhi Police Commissioner announced the decision to impose Section 144 from 9 PM today till March 31.