An order mandating a five-day institutional quarantine for anyone testing positive for coronavirus in Delhi, issued by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, was withdrawn on Saturday, a day after it triggered a huge controversy and strong protests from the Aam Aadmi Party government.

The decision came after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked why a separate rule was being created for the city, sources said, and opposed Mr Baijal’s order at a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority which is led by the Lieutenant Governor.

Earlier in the day, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had said that the order is against the guidelines of the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), which has permitted home isolation for asymptomatic and mild symptom COVID-19 patients, and will create “chaos” in Delhi. ‘Most corona patients are asymptomatic or with mild symptoms. How will arrangements be made for them. The coaches provided by the Railways for isolation are hot inside where patients cannot stay,’ Mr Kejriwal was quoted as saying at the meeting. On Friday, Mr Baijal ordered a five-day institutional quarantine for all asymptomatic COVID-19 patients or those with mild symptoms. He also ordered that after the five-day institutional quarantine asymptomatic patients will be sent for home isolation. The move was likely to put further stress on the city’s stretched health infrastructure, which is grappling with an sharp spike in patients. Concerns were also raised that the rule would discourage people from reporting COVID-19 symptoms.

Read EquityPandit’s Nifty Outlook for the Week

As on Friday, Delhi had more than 53,000 coronavirus cases of which over 27,000 were active.