The government is also considering how to reopen places of worship.

Even as Delhi pushes to reopen more businesses and resume economic activity, a spurt in cases has meant a rise in containment zones, where no movement will be allowed even in Lockdown 5.0.

On Saturday, there were 122 active containment zones in the city, up from 102 in the last week of April. According to data provided by the Delhi government, around 50 zones have been de-contained so far.

In the Central Delhi district alone, over 3.2 lakh people live in containment or buffer zones. These include parts of Chandni Mahal, Nabi Karim and the highly commercial Sadar Bazar and Karol Bagh.

In different pockets of North Delhi’s Jahangirpuri, over 75,000 are still under restrictions.

“Since we are in favour of reopening the city, we also have to be careful that areas where there is a higher chance of infection — with more than three cases — are contained effectively. And people must be cautious about social distancing and not believe everything is now normal,” a senior official said.

The government is also considering how to reopen places of worship.

“There are days that see a significant footfall. We were initially thinking of letting only smaller ones reopen, but a conversation is still on,” an official said.

On salons and barber shops, which the Centre had allowed during Lockdown 4.0 but Delhi government curbed, the official said that “those above a certain floor area could be allowed to function”.