The Delhi High Court Wednesday pulled up the Delhi government over its lack of preparedness to tackle the Covid-19 in the national capital, and asked it to strictly enforce guidelines regarding the use of masks and social distancing. 

“We are not saying you alone are responsible, the citizens are also responsible and are supposed to take precautions. If they don’t, you are supposed to enforce it in such a way that they don’t carry the infection to others. We certainly cannot be silent bystanders to a situation that is deteriorating. You were not working from November 1 onward till very recently, and that is getting us worried… We are not here to shake you out of your slumber,’ the bench said.

Delhi’s coronavirus tally on Wednesday climbed to over 500,000 after 7,486 fresh cases and 131 new fatalities were recorded in the last 24 hours, pushing the death toll to 7,943. This is the highest number of deaths reported in the city so far.

With 45,576 new COVID-19 infections, India’s total cases are now close to 90 lakh. With 585 new deaths reported in the last 24 hours, the toll mounts to 1,31,578. Of the 89,58,484 infections, active cases dropped to 4,43,303, while as many as 83 lakh people have been discharged.

The Covid lockdown has set off sweeping economic distress in cities but its crucial dimension has remained untold: the silent, devastating toll on the working woman in the city suddenly out of work. Now locked out of the job market, they are being pushed to debt; some are selling off household items their incomes had helped buy, others are returning to places where they came from – all in desperate search for a job. The Indian Express spoke to a few of them about their hardships. On the vaccine front, Pfizer Inc. said a final analysis of clinical-trial data showed its vaccine was 95% effective.

Source: The Indian Express

BDST: 1444 HRS, NOV 19, 2020
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