The gradual unlock process in the Capital has led to the prosecution of over 87,000 people for COVID-related violations from May 31 to June 20, according to Delhi government records.
As many as 4,153 people were prosecuted daily for not adhering to COVID-appropriate behaviour by Delhi government teams amounting to a total of 87,218 fines being issued for violations ranging from not wearing masks, wearing them improperly, to not following social distancing and spitting in public over 21 days.
According to government records, violations have gone up every week with more activities being opened up even as new cases of infection went down with as many as 6,507 new infections being recorded during the three-week period.
The highest number of people to be prosecuted — 5,583 — was on June 20.
A majority – 5,255 people or around 81% of those who got infected during the three weeks of the unlock process during this interval – were aged between 14 and 60.
As more and more citizens step out, given the added number of activities allowed every week, more prosecutions are being made; but the higher prosecution is also due to more people being found not adhering to COVID norms.
During the first phase of unlock between May 31 and June 6, when construction and industrial activities were allowed, 20,966 fines were issued and 3,321 infections were recorded during the week.
Between June 7 and June 13, Unlock 2 saw Delhi Metro being permitted to ply and shops at city markets allowed to open on an odd-even basis. A total of 29,343 people were prosecuted while the number of infections went down to 2,080.
Cases dip, violations soar
During Unlock 3, between June 14 and June 20, when the Delhi Metro continued to function and all shops and city markets were allowed to open, the number of violations soared to 36,909 even as infections reduced to 1,106.
The number of citizens falling in the 14- 60 age group — mostly engaged in the activities gradually allowed in the city — who got infected during Unlock 1 was 2,627 out of 3,321; during Unlock 2 this stood at 1,697 of 2,080 and Unlock 3 saw 931 infections among the age group out of 1,106.
The Capital went through a series of six-week-long lockdowns between mid-April and May during which prosecution figures remained relatively low compared to three recent weeks during which the city has been “unlocking” in phases.