After Delhi And UP, Mask Mandate Likely to Return in Maharashtra As COVID Cases Rise; Final Decision Today

COVID Restrictions to Return in Maharashtra? A final decision on the same will be taken on April 21 when the Maharashtra Cabinet will hold a meeting to review the COVID situation in the state. Last month, owing to a dip in the covid cases, the state government had lifted all the existing COVID-19 restrictions.

Punjab Face Mask Guidelines — As per the guidelines, all must wear a face mask in all educational institutions, and also in government and private offices.

Mumbai: With the sudden rise in COVID cases, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government is reportedly planning to make face masks mandatory in public places across the state. A final decision on the same will be taken on April 21 when the Maharashtra Cabinet will hold a meeting to review the COVID situation in the state. Last month, owing to a dip in the covid cases, the state government had lifted all the existing COVID-19 restrictions.

“From April 2nd, all Covid restrictions will be lifted in Maharashtra. No fine will be imposed for not wearing masks. We can’t say that Covid has been eradicated, I request that people wear masks. This will be a choice, it won’t be mandatory anymore,” Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope had said.

Yesterday, the Delhi government decided to make the wearing of masks mandatory again in public places and impose a fine of Rs 500 in case of a violation.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), which also decided not to shut schools and come up with separate Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in consultation with experts for them.

Besides, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Chandigarh also made it compulsory for people to wear a face mask in public places.

FACE MASKS MADE MANDATORY IN THESE CITIES

Delhi
Gautam Buddha Nagar
Meerut
Ghaziabad
Hapur
Bagpat
Bulandshahr
Lucknow
Gurugram
Faridabad
Sonipat
Jhajjar
Chandigarh

COVID in Maharashtra

Maharashtra on Wednesday recorded 162 fresh coronavirus cases, more than half of them in Mumbai alone, while no new death linked to the infection was registered in the state. With this, the state’s overall COVID-19 tally rose to 78,76,203, while the death toll remained unchanged at 1,47,830.

On Tuesday, the state recorded 137 coronavirus cases and three deaths linked to the disease. Sindhudurg, Sangli, Nandurbar, Jalgaon, Jalna, Parbhani, Hingoli, Nanded, Osmanabad, Washim, Buldhana, Yavatmal, Wardha and Bhandara districts have zero active cases, the department said in a bulletin.

Mumbai recorded 98 coronavirus cases, accounting for more than half of the new patients detected in the last 24 hours. The health department said 132 patients were discharged in the last 24 hours, taking their cumulative count to 77,27,683 and leaving the state with 690 active COVID-19 cases. The coronavirus recovery rate in the state stood at 98.11 per cent, while the fatality rate was 1.87 per cent.