Coronavirus in India: Delhi government mandates wearing of masks at public places amid spike in cases

In view of the rising COVID-19 cases in the national capital over the past few days, the Delhi government on Wednesday made the wearing of masks mandatory at public places, said Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal.

Sources said that it also imposed Rs 500 penalty for defying the norm.

However, the schools will continue in offline mode but the management has to ensure that COVID-19 protocols are strictly followed, said sources.

Lieutenant Governor, in a series of tweets, informed that the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), in its 36th meeting today, decided to come up with a separate Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for schools in consultation with experts.

"It was also emphasised that in consultation with experts standard operating procedures for prevention and management of COVID-19 should be laid down for schools and their strict enforcement by school management should be ensured," he said.

"In the larger interest of students, in case of non-compliance or violation of SOPs penalty as deemed appropriate should be imposed for creating a deterrent effect. Advised all the agencies to remain vigilant and work in coordination to tackle the situation as it emerges," the Governor added.

As per the expert's advice, it was decided to enhance testing, focus on vaccination coverage of the targeted population and ensure strict enforcement of COVID appropriate behaviour.

The meeting was chaired by Lieutenant Governor to review the COVID-19 situation in Delhi along with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Minister Revenue Kgahlot, Chief Secretary, Dr Randeep Guleria-Director AIIMS, Dr SK Singh-NCDC and other senior officers.

Nearly three weeks ago, when Delhi witnessed a dip in the daily infections, the DDMA had issued an order removing the fine for not wearing masks. However, it had advised people to continue using them in crowded places.

Over the past few days, the daily COVID-19 infection has been on the rise. According to yesterday's bulletin, Delhi recorded 632 fresh cases. For the third consecutive day, the national capital reported over 500 daily infections.

The positivity rate, however, dropped to 4.42 per cent from 7.72 per cent on Monday.

(ANI)

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