No new lockdown: Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia to shopkeepers

The Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia on
Wednesday assuaged the shopkeepers that there will be no new lockdowns, only increased
regulations to stem the rise in the coronavirus cases in the city.

The comment from Sisodia came a day after Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal expressed his intention to impose a lockdown in markets, which
are emerging as hotbeds of coronavirus cases.

“I’d like to assure shopkeepers, they need not be scared. We
don’t intend to impose a lockdown. We want your shops to remain open… If
needed, regulations will be increased in some markets -that’s what we requested
from centre. But it won’t be a lockdown in any manner,” Sisodia said according
to ANI.

The minister also said that the government has secured permission from the Lt. Governor reduce the number of attendees in a wedding back to 50, which had been relieved to 200 when the COVID-19 had imroved in the city in previous months.

“Lieutenant Governor has given approval. This was essential as larger the crowd at a place, the more harmful it is. Lockdown won’t be imposed but people have to be stopped from gathering in large numbers,” he told ANI.

Kejriwal in a press conference on Tuesday had aired the view
that lockdown may be imposed in some of the crowded markets of the city and that they will seek permission from the centre for this. 

He had said this after a
meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who had called on him to take stock of
the COVID-19 situation in the national capital.

The city is battling a fresh spike in the coronavirus cases,
which crossed the mark of 8000 cases per day last week.