Graded Response Action Plan to Fight Possible 3rd COVID Wave

Delhi government's proposed Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in view of a possible third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has been approved by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA).

As per Delhi government officials, this color-coded GRAP was proposed by an expert committee formed by the Delhi government to guide Covid preparedness in case of the outbreak of a possible wave of the pandemic.

‘According to the expert committee's plan, the Yellow alert will be issued if the positivity rate remains at over 0.5 per cent for two consecutive days, or the average occupancy of oxygen beds in the hospitals remains 500 for a week.’

The action plan will see shopping malls and shops dealing in non-essential goods and services coming under an odd-even system when the alert level is raised to 'Yellow' in the national capital.

"The Graded Response Action Plan was passed in DDMA meeting today. There will be no doubt about when the lockdown will take place and when it will open," Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted.

"In the meeting, there was also talk about the Delta+ variant of Corona? We have to stop this variant from spreading in Delhi, for which the government is taking all the necessary steps," Kejriwal added.

As per the GRAP, shops in malls will witness a further reduction in timings under the 'Amber' alert and will be shut altogether, along with weekly markets, when the alert is raised to 'Orange'.

Only essential services, stand-alone shops and construction activities with on-site labourers will be allowed during the 'Orange' alert.

The alerts -- Yellow, Amber, Orange and Red -- have been arranged in terms of the severity of the pandemic, taking into consideration factors such as positivity rate, cumulative new positive cases, and average weekly occupancy rate of oxygen beds.

While Red is the highest level of alert in terms of severity, most economic activities will come to a halt with the announcement of an Orange alert. Further restrictions will be planned under the Red alert when the situation arises.

With this alert, shops in markets and malls dealing with non-essential goods and services will be allowed to open between 10 am and 8 pm, as per the odd-even formula.

While one weekly market will be allowed per municipal zone at half the capacity of vendors, construction activities and industrial establishments and manufacturing units will be allowed to operate, said an official.

An Amber alert will be issued if the test positivity rate remains at over 1 per cent for two consecutive days, or average oxygen bed occupancy remains over the 700-mark for a week.

The Orange alert will be issued in case the city records a positivity rate of more than 2 per cent for two consecutive days, or the average oxygen bed occupancy remains over the 1,000-mark for a week.

A Red alert will be issued if the test positivity rate remains over 5 per cent for two consecutive days, or the average oxygen bed occupancy rate remains 3,000 or more for a week.

To prepare the Graded Repose Action Plan, the Delhi government had setup an eight-member expert committee on May 27.

Source: IANS