NEW DELHI, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Local government of India's capital Delhi on Thursday told the Delhi High Court that it was mulling imposition of night curfew, as the city has witnessed a sudden surge in COVID-19 cases recently.
Between 5,000 and 6,000 daily cases were registered in Delhi in the past nearly 10 days, while the daily new deaths hovered around 100.
Currently, Delhi is among the top six states contributing over 60 percent of the total daily cases countrywide. In all, the city has registered nearly 550,000 cases and nearly 8,800 deaths, out of the country's tally of 9,266,705 and 135,223 deaths.
For nearly a month, the Delhi government has taken several measures to curb the pandemic spread, but has yet to impose movement restrictions within the city.
Earlier this week it curtailed the number of guests allowed at wedding events from 200 to 50, and increased the penalty for not wearing masks from 500 Indian Rupees (around 6.7 U.S. dollars) to 2,000 Indian Rupees (around 27 U.S. dollars).
The Delhi government also strictly banned bursting firecrackers during the recent festival of lights - Diwali, celebrated on Nov. 14, as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal linked the recent spike in COVID-19 cases to the rising air pollution levels.
On Thursday, Delhi's Health Minister Satyendra Jain said there were no plans to reopen the schools till the safety of students is ensured.
"There is no plan to reopen schools in Delhi as of now. We are hopeful that a vaccine will be available soon. Schools will not be reopened till the time we are convinced that students will be safe," Jain told reporters.
The minister also noted that the positivity rate in Delhi has come down to 8.5 percent in the last three weeks. Enditem
