Amid Rise in COVID Cases, Haryana Govt Mandates Masks In Public

Amid the rise in COVID-19 cases, the Haryana government on Saturday announced that wearing face masks was mandatory in public places, like malls, shopping centres and government offices where the gathering is more than 100 people.

According to the ANI, the statement said, “It is intimated that in a meeting held under the chairmanship of Hon’ble Health Minister, Haryana on April 3 (Monday), it has been observed that there is a significant upsurge in the number of COVID cases with an increased positivity rate of COVID-19 infection in the State of Haryana over past few weeks.”

The move was a precautionary measure against another possible outbreak of COVID-19, the statement said.

The statement reads: “It has decided that wearing of the face mask by the general public at all the public places, where there is a gathering of more than 100 people, government offices, malls, etc. is mandatory.”

The district administrations and panchayats have also been instructed to ensure that it is implemented in all parts of Haryana.

According to the official website, as of Sunday, Haryana recorded 428 cases, taking the total number of active cases to 1,819 and the positivity rate to 6.29 per cent.

Meanwhile, Kerala has also made wearing masks mandatory for pregnant women, the elderly and people with lifestyle diseases. The state reported 1,801 new cases on Saturday. Amid the spike in cases, state health minister Veena George held a review meeting on COVID preparedness.

In Delhi, hospitals, polyclinics and dispensaries have been instructed by the health department to scale up testing. Amid this, medical experts state that the new XBB.1.16 variant of COVID could be driving the surge in the national capital.

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