Concerns Over Crowding After Unlock, Could Hasten 3rd Wave In Delhi: What High Court Said

Delhi, like most parts of the country, has passed the peak of the second wave of COVID-19 and is in a rush to open up after two months of lockdown.

Even though the Arvind Kejriwal government announced a cautious, phased unlock, a large section of the population seems to have forgotten that they are living amid a pandemic.

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Ever since the unlock process began there markets and roads across Delhi have been swelling crowds, causing fears among health experts that the violations of COVID-19 guidelines could result in the virus coming back.

What the High Court said

On Friday, the Delhi High Court took cognisance of the violation of COVID-19 protocols in various markets in the national capital and observed that such breaches will only hasten the third wave which cannot be permitted at all.

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The high court asked the Centre and Delhi government to take strict measures, sensitise shopkeepers and hold meetings with markets and vendors associations in this regard.

A vacation bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Asha Menon took note of certain photographs sent to one of the judges of the high court by an AIIMS doctor showing scant regard for COVID-19 protocols by street vendors in markets.

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"We have paid a huge price in the second wave. We don't know if there is any household which has not suffered in the second wave, closely or remotely," the bench observed.

The Delhi government imposed a lockdown in the national capital on April 19 at the peak of the second wave of COVID-19. The lockdown was extended a few times since then.

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After a continuous decline in daily coronavirus cases for several days, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that the national capital will begin to unlock from May 31 in a phased manner.

Recently, many health experts and doctors had also warned that the reluctance to follow social distancing in public could create a scenario equally or worse than the second wave of COVID-19.