DNA Explainer: What is Delhi's colour-coded plan? How system will work during COVID-19 surge

The Delhi government has framed a colour-coded response action plan for restricting various activities and functioning of Metro trains, restaurants, and shopping malls in accordance with the severity of the pandemic. Under the plan, there will be no confusion about enforcement and lifting of various curbs, the Chief Minister stated.

The plan was approved by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) after a meeting with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Lt Governor Anil Baijal, and other senior officials and public health experts.

The colour codes based on positivity rate (on two consecutive days), the cumulative number of new cases (over a week), and average oxygenated-bed occupancy (for a week) will designate four levels of alerts.

Basis of colour-code

Yellow - If positivity rate remains over 0.5% for two consecutive days, or cumulative new positive cases touch 1,500, or average occupancy of oxygen beds in hospitals remains 500 for a week.

Amber - If test positivity rate remains over 1% for two consecutive days, or 3,500 new cases in a week, or average oxygen bed occupancy remaining over 700 over the course of a week.

Orange - If test positivity remains over 2% for two straight days, or if the city records 9,000 new cases over a week's time or average occupancy of oxygen beds remains 1,000 for seven consecutive days.

Red - If the test positivity rate breaches 5% two days in a row, or the city records 16,000 news cases in a week, or if the average occupancy of oxygen beds in hospitals remains 3,000 or above over a week.

How colour-coded system will work

Malls, markets, restaurants, pubs, and metro services will shut in Delhi if the test positivity rate remains over 2% two days in a row.

Partial restrictions such as odd-even in markets will set in if the rate touches 0.5%, measures that are part of the Delhi government's colour-coded response plan.

If schools, colleges, and coaching institutes are permitted to open in the near future, a yellow alert can once again close all such educational facilities.

While red is the highest level of alert, most economic and social activities and public transport facilities will come to a halt with the announcement of an orange alert itself.

The authorities will enforce night curfew in the case of a Yellow alert, a weekend curfew will be imposed when the level of alert is raised to Orange.

There will be a complete ban on public movement with the imposition of total curfew when the alert level rises to red.

In the case of people entering Delhi from other states, it will be mandatory to establish that one is fully vaccinated.

Or else a negative RT-PCR report not older than three days will have to be produced when the city is under Red alert.

Those coming from states where a new strain of COVID-19 has been found will also have to produce vaccination or negative RT-PCR reports.