New Delhi imposes nighttime curfew amid rising Covid-19 cases

The Indian capital New Delhi introduced a nighttime curfew on Tuesday, banning citizens from going outside after dark until April 30 as the number of coronavirus cases keeps rising both in the city and across the country.

The curfew from 10pm to 5am was announced in the city of 29 million after it registered more than 3,500 new Covid-19 infections for four consecutive days.

The restrictions were introduced to make sure that people don’t gather at public venues like restaurants, pubs, bars, and nightclubs. All shopping areas, arcades, and markets were also told to shut down during the night.

Violations of the curfew will be punishable in accordance with the Disaster Management Act of 2005, which envisages penalties of up to two years behind bars.

Officials overseeing the Covid-19 response, healthcare workers, those heading out to be vaccinated, along with several other categories of residents, are exempt.

The restrictions in the capital were announced 24 hours after India surpassed 100,000 daily infections for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic.

With 12.7 million coronavirus cases, India is the third worst-affected nation after the US and Brazil. But over the past week, it has seen more infections than any other country in the world.

India is also among the global leaders in vaccination, already administering more than 80.9 million doses. But considering the country’s population of 1.35 billion people, it’s not such a significant number per capita.

“The pandemic has worsened in the country… There is a serious rise in cases,” Vinod Kumar Paul, a high-ranking government health official, said on Tuesday. The next four next weeks will be “very, very critical” for India’s fight with the disease, he added.

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