NEW DELHI: With Covid-19 on a rampage, Delhi’s business community was apprehensive about another
lockdown
, but health minister
Satyendar Jain said on Monday that there was “no chance” of a second closure in the capital. He asserted that the third wave in the city had passed its peak.
Delhi has seen nearly 90 deaths every day for a week, with the positive cases around a lakh this month. Jain on Monday said that the government was analysing not only the daily data, but also the weekly average, which indicated a downturn in Covid spread.
“There is no need to be worried by the absolute numbers and I can definitely say that the third wave of November has already passed its peak,” Jain said. “The positivity reached 15% in a single day recently but has not touched that figure again.”
The minister also said that the lockdown was a learning experience that needn’t be repeated. “We learnt that you can get all the benefits of the lockdown simply by wearing masks,” he declared. “So, there is no chance of another lockdown.”
Earlier, a worried Chamber of Trade and Industry appealed to the Centre and Delhi government against a lockdown. CTI convener Brijesh Goyal said rumours were rife about a closure and added, “Before Diwali, some markets were crowded, but now there is no reason for similar crowds in the markets. A lockdown, therefore, won’t prove effective.”
Niranjan Poddar, president, Automotive and General Traders Welfare Association of Mori Gate, also argued against a shutdown. “There were 500 Covid cases in Delhi when the lockdown was announced. When it was relaxed, there were 10,000 cases,” noted Poddar.
Due to the lockdown, tens of thousands of livelihoods were lost. “Closure of markets for the second time will cause huge financial distress to the business community and affect the government’s revenue collection. The economy is slowly getting back on track, so we should not derail it,” said a trader While Jain said people’s response was extreme — some were undaunted and did not follow preventive norms while others were too scared to venture out of their houses — the business community shouldn’t be blamed for the negligence of a few, said traders.
CTI chairman Subhash Khandelwal assured that all market associations have been requested to ensure social distancing, masks, thermal screening and use of hand sanitiser.