Street vendors can open shops from 10 AM to 8 PM

New Delhi : The Delhi Government has allowed street vendors and hawkers to open their shops between 10 AM to 8 PM daily. Those in coronavirus containment zones are prohibited from opening the shops. They will be required to follow hygiene protocols such as social distancing.

"A special order is being passed through which the street vendors and hawkers can restart their work and livelihood in Delhi," Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was quoted by news agency PTI.

Meanwhile, the government is yet to take a call on the weekly bazaars as the social distancing guidelines are still being framed for them.

The order is expected to come as a relief for the lakhs of hawkers in the national capital, whose trade and livelihoods were severely disrupted by the coronavirus lockdown.

The order also comes on the day Delhi recorded its lowest daily increase in COVID-19 cases in two months - only 613 fresh infections were reported over the past 24 hours. 

Overall 1.31 lakh cases have been recorded in the national capital since the outbreak began, but of these fewer than 12,000 are active cases and around 3,800 are deaths linked to the virus.

The recovery rate in Delhi is 88 per cent.