New Delhi, Feb 5 (IANS): The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Friday held a meeting to review the Covid guidelines that were in place in the national capital and eased several restrictions keeping in mind the sharp decline in the positivity rate.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced the steps taken by the authority on Friday afternoon in a virtual press conference.

As per the new guidelines, schools for Classes 9-12 will reopen from February 7, while classes from nursery to eighth standard will resume from February 14.

According Sisodia, "Prolonged school closures have resulted in significant learning losses among the students of all ages. Students' social and emotional well-being has also suffered. Thus, reopening schools is an urgent necessity. Classes in a hybrid model for students in grades 9-12 will resume on Monday, February 7, and will gradually move to a completely offline mode in the coming weeks."

All colleges, ITIs and polytechnic institutes will reopen from Monday; higher education to take place in offline mode only, the new guidelines said.

Sisodia said, "Colleges have been closed for a long time due to Covid, and the entire college life and campus has been reduced to a single room in the house. So it has been decided that all colleges in Delhi will reopen on February 7, and studies will be completely shifted from online to offline mode. In this sequence, it was decided at the DDMA meeting that skill training institutes and coaching centres could reopen from Monday."

The timing for night curfew has also been revised and now it will be implemented from 11 pm to 5 am. This will also have an impact on restaurant hours, as they are now permitted to operate until 11 pm.

"Earlier, police officers on duty instructed restaurant owners to close their doors by 10 pm to comply with the Covid restrictions. However, they will no longer be forced to do so. In addition, all offices, both government and private, will be allowed to operate at full capacity," Sisodia said.

He further stated that the operators of gyms, spas, and swimming pools have suffered greatly as a result of the prolonged closure of these facilities.

"Along with this, athletes were having difficulty preparing for their games; as a result, it has been decided that all gyms, spas, and swimming pools will be open from Monday, while B2B exhibitions will also be permitted," he said.

Meanwhile, the national capital on Friday reported 2,272 new Covid cases, with a test positivity rate of 3.85 per cent.