With a view to containing the resurgence of Covid-19 cases, caused by the Omicron variant, the national capital came under weekend curfew beginning with Friday night (10 pm) till 5 am on Monday.

The weekend curfew order was issued by the Delhi government on January 4 following a decision taken at a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA).

The DDMA had earlier taken a decision on December 27 for a night curfew “till further orders” to prevent New Year celebrations from spreading Covid-19 infections.

Henceforth, there will be curfew every weekend in the national capital till further orders by the DDMA.

During the curfew hours, all government offices will remain closed except for institutions providing essential services like hospitals.

The government offices will function in the work-from-home mode.

Private offices will function with their 50 per cent staff strength. The remaining employees in the private sector will be allowed to work through the work-from-home system.

The essential services which will remain unaffected include the supply of food items and medicines.

Delhi Metro trains and DTC buses will operate at their 100 per cent capacity to control the crowd and prevent the Metro stations and bus stands from becoming “super-spreaders” of Covid-19. But passengers will have to observe the Covid-19 protocol as a must like the wearing of the face mask. Passengers will also be required to show their identity cards or e-passes. However, standing passengers in Metro services will not be allowed.

Metro trains will be available at a frequency of every 15 minutes on the Yellow Line and Blue Line and at a 20-minute frequency on all the other lines. Each Metro coach can have a maximum of 50 passengers.

The Delhi government’s Mukhya Mantri Tirtha Yatra Yojna, a free-of-cost pilgrimage facility for senior citizens, will remain suspended during the curfew hours.

Those travelling by private vehicles will also be required to carry essential documents.

When Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia made the announcement on January 4 for the weekend curfew, he appealed to the residents of the national capital to stay at home. People should leave their houses only in case of an emergency or in need of essential services like buying medicines, he said.