Mask 'not mandatory', says Maharashtra Health Minister amid surge in COVID cases

Clarifying the state's stance on the letter sent by the Centre to five states to closely monitor emerging clusters of COVID-19 cases and maintain an adequate number of tests, and send samples from infected individuals for genome sequencing, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Saturday said that they appeal to the people for wearing face masks in closed places, however, they have not mandated it by levying a tax over it.

Clarifying the state's stance on the letter sent by the Centre to five states to closely monitor emerging clusters of COVID-19 cases and maintain an adequate number of tests, and send samples from infected individuals for genome sequencing, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Saturday said that they appeal to the people to wear face masks in closed places, however, they have not mandated it by levying a penalty over it.

Tope while speaking to reporters here today said, "Masks should be worn in closed spaces like buses, schools, railways, and offices. This is not mandatory, therefore no fine is imposed. But I appeal to the Maharashtra public to wear masks."

"There has been a slight increase in positive cases in the limited cluster areas like Mumbai, Pune, Thane, and Palghar, due to which Maharashtra's contribution in the active Covid-19 cases in the country is increasing. That's why the Health Department of the Central government had sent a letter to the states observing a surge in Covid cases," said Tope quoting the letter sent by the Centre.

The Centre had sent the letter to five states including Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu on Friday advising them to follow a five-fold strategy i.e test - track - treat - vaccination and also follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour, monitoring clusters of new COVID-19 cases and adequate testing as per the guidelines.

He also said that the Centre had asked the states to follow the formulated "in-general Covid norms".

"It is a part of in-general guidelines for the people to wear face masks in closed spaces like buses, schools, railways, and offices, and hence we appeal to wear face masks, however, we have not mandated it by imposing a fine on not wearing a face mask," said Tope.

The state Health Minister's remarks came days after Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar showed his concern regarding the spike in Covid cases in the state highlighting the need to mandate face masks.

Meanwhile, the country observed a significant dip in the covid cases on Saturday as the country logged 3,962 fresh infections in the last 24 hours.

Yesterday, after nearly three months, the daily tally of COVID-19 cases in India had crossed the 4,000-mark with the country logging 4,041 infections in the last 24 hours.

With this, India's active COVID caseload stands at 22,416, constituting 0.05 per cent of the country's total positive cases.

The daily positivity rate of 0.77 per cent was observed in the last 24 hours, while the weekly positivity rate was recorded to be 0.89 per cent, the health ministry informed today.

( With inputs from ANI )