The Delhi government on Wednesday asked the district magistrates to ensure that cultural events and gatherings are not held on Christmas and New Year because of the rising Omicron cases in the national Capital, reported ANI.

In an order, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority noted that it had placed a ban on gatherings and congregations on December 15 but the restrictions were not complied with.

“Hence, All DMs [district magistrates] and District DCPs [deputy commissioners of police] shall ensure that no cultural event/gatherings/congregation/take place for celebrating Christmas or New Year in NCT of Delhi,” the order said.

The order also directed the authorities to conduct surprise checks and take strict action against those not following the guidelines.

The government asked the district magistrates to conduct surveys and identify potential Covid supers-preader areas

Pointing out that wearing masks is the most important weapon in the fight against the infection, the order directed Resident Welfare Associations and Market Traders Associations to not allow anyone in public without the protection.

It asked the Market Traders Associations to enforce “no masks, not entry” policy at their shops.

District magistrates and deputy commissioners of police have also been asked to ensure that Covid-19 appropriate behaviour is strictly followed.

Delhi has reported the highest number of Omicron cases in India at 57, according to the Union health ministry update on Wednesday.

However, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the Union government’s tally was not correct, reported ANI.

Jain noted that the government’s Omicron cases tally for Delhi was 54 on Tuesday and said that two of these cases were reported from Ghaziabad.

“There are 52 cases of Omicron in Delhi so far, most of which are from the airport,” Jain told reporters. “Only three cases have been reported from the community. The source of their infection is being traced. 18 out of 52 people have been discharged, they have recovered and gone home. These 52 cases include those at LNJP and private hospitals.”

He said that most of these 52 cases are also from the other parts of the country, but the infected patients have been admitted to the city’s hospitals as they arrived at the Delhi airport.

Jain said that none of the Omicron-positive patient was serious and their health condition was stable.

Delhi records highest daily Covid-19 case count in six months

Meanwhile, Delhi on Wednesday recorded 125 new coronavirus cases, taking the infection count in the city to 14,42,515 since the pandemic began last year. This is the highest number of daily Covid-19 cases recorded in the national Capital in six months, reported NDTV.

With 624 active cases, Delhi also has the highest number of coronavirus patients in five months.

The earlier highest single-day infection count was recorded on June 22 when the city reported 134 new Covid-19 cases. The highest number of active infections in Delhi was on July 16, when there were 657 such cases.

On Wednesday, Delhi did not record any new deaths. The toll stood at 25,102.

The daily positivity rate stood at 0.2%. The test positivity rate is the percentage of people who test positive for a virus out of those who have been tested overall.