India has been witnessing a spike in COVID-19 cases every week now. As per the trend this month, the country crossed the 4,000-mark on June 3, 7,000-mark on June 9, the 8,000 mark on June 11, the 12,000 mark on June 16, the 13,000 mark on June 18, the 17,000 mark on June 24 and 20,000 mark on July 14 . In the wake of rising cases, several states have upped their guard against the virus and made masks mandatory.
Here's the list of states which has made masks necessary at public places:
Jammu and Kashmir: Wearing face masks was made mandatory in the Jammu district, as per a notice issued on July 19.
Assam: Assam's Cachar district administration has made wearing of face masks mandatory in all offices, public gatherings in the district.
Chennai: The Chennai Corporation made wearing of masks mandatory in public places.
Leh: Wearing of face masks was made mandatory for the public in the Leh district of Ladakh on June 30. The district magistrate said the violator will be fined Rs 500.
Kerala: On Tuesday, the Kerala Police ordered all its district police chiefs to ensure the implementation of a state government direction to make the wearing of masks mandatory in public and workplaces, gatherings and while using transportation.
Jharkhand: Around June 20, the
Jharkhand government issued new guidelines making wearing of face masks compulsory in closed spaces, work places and while using public transport.
Tamil Nadu: The department of health and family welfare had earlier ordered action against those not wearing masks and not following all COVID-19 precautionary measures, reports said.
Karnataka: In the second week of June, an order by the health commissioner stated that the wearing of masks is mandatory in all public places, buses, private vehicles travelers, malls, educational institutions.
Besides these, the Maharashtra government has been mulling the possibility of making face masks mandatory again in Mumbai suburban trains in view of the rising cases. As on July 20, West Bengal has the maximum number of active
COVID-19 caseload at 28,969. Till date, there are 22,592 active cases in Kerala, 14,789 in
Maharashtra, 16,829 in
Tamil Nadu and 7,617 in
Karnataka.
Amid the rising cases, the Centre advised states and Union territories to strictly monitor the epidemiological profile of admitted coronavirus-infected patients and report the clinical manifestations to the Health Ministry, rather than random or anecdotal reporting. States were also advised to rapidly accelerate the vaccination coverage, especially of the 60-plus elderly population, and the second dose among the 12-17 population group.
(Edited by : Priyanka Rathi)
First Published: Jun 29, 2022 3:46 PM IST
