Amid a Covid surge in the national capital, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has exempted persons with disabilities and pregnant women employees of the city government’s departments and agencies from attending office.

Such employees will work from home, the DDMA said in an order issued on Friday.

Considering the health and safety of people, persons with disabilities, and pregnant women employees will be exempted from attending duties related to essential as well as non-essential services in offices of departments, PSUs, corporations, autonomous bodies, local bodies of the Delhi government, it stated.

Such employees will have regular communication with their offices through mobile phone or email while working from home, the order stated.

Earlier, the DDMA had directed all Delhi government employees associated with non-essential services to work from home. 

However, employees associated with essential services may work from their offices. 

Meanwhile, Delhi on Saturday reported 20,718 COVID-19 cases and 30 fatalities while the positivity rate stood at 30.64 percent, according to health department data.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the government will think of easing restrictions when the cases decline to 15,000.

The dip in the number of cases can be attributed to fewer tests (67,724) conducted the previous day, a sharp decline as compared to 1.05 lakh tests on January 11.

A senior health department official said Delhi has been following the Centre’s new guidelines for Covid testing which is the “reason for a dip in the number of tests conducted daily”.

According to the guidelines, asymptomatic patients do not need to undergo a test. Also, contacts of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients do not require a test unless they have comorbidities or are aged above 60.