Daily News Capsule

A color-coded graded response action plan, proposed by an expert committee set up by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi to guide the government’s COVID-19 preparedness in case of a possible wave of the pandemic in the future, will help shopping malls and non-working shops.

The alerts are categorized into Yellow, Amber, Orange, and Red, based on positivity rate, cumulative new positive cases, and average oxygen bed occupancy in hospitals. The administration has also included the odd-even restrictions for malls and markets in the plan.

The alerts – yellow, amber, orange, and red – have been arranged in terms of their severity, taking into account factors such as positivity rate, cumulative new positive cases, and average weekly occupancy rate of oxygen beds, the documents said.

The category-wise Explanation of this Novel System in Delhi is-

Yellow Alert

• This is the first level of alert that will go out if the Covid-19 positivity rate exceeds 0.5 percent for two consecutive days, or 1,500 new cases are reported in a week.
• Yellow can also be imposed if the average occupancy of oxygen beds in hospitals across Delhi is 500 for a week.
• Under the yellow alert, shops and markets offering non-essential goods and services will be allowed to open on an odd-even basis within the stipulated time period of 10 am to 8 pm.
• A weekly market will be allowed to operate with half-vendors in each municipal area.
• Construction activities and industrial establishments/manufacturing units will operate as usual.

Amber Alert

• The next level of alert is Amber which will go out if the positivity rate is more than one percent for two consecutive days or 3,500 new cases are reported in a week.
• This alert can also be imposed if the average oxygen bed occupancy is over 700 in a week.
• As far as restrictions are concerned, it will be similar to Yellow. However, the timings of shops and markets will remain from 10 am to 6 pm.

Orange Alert

• This third category will be imposed if the positivity rate rises to two percent for two consecutive days, or the new cases reported in a week exceed 9,000, or the average oxygen bed occupancy exceeds 1,000 in a week.
• Unlike the previous two categories, Orange will have strict restrictions.
• All markets and shops will remain closed. Only shops with essential goods like grocery stores, milk booths, and medical stores will remain open.
• Transportation will be restricted. Metro services will remain closed and buses with 50 percent capacity will only carry people engaged in essential services.
• Private transport like autos, cabs, and e-rickshaws will operate with a maximum capacity of two passengers.
• Only construction sites providing accommodation to laborers will be allowed, while the rest will be barred. The same condition applies to factories producing essential commodities.

Red Alert

• The ‘Red’ category will have the strictest restrictions.
• If the positivity rate exceeds five percent in two consecutive days, or the new cases reported in a week increase to 16,000, or the average number of oxygen beds in hospitals exceeds 3,000 or more in a week, then This alert will be put.
• Restrictions will be similar to Orange Alert with stricter rules for public transport.

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