Puducherry reports 71 new Covid-19 cases in last 24 hrs, govt makes masks mandatory

Puducherry [India], April 7 : Puducherry has reported 71 fresh cases of Covid-19 with the active cases standing at 206, according to a daily bulletin issued by the Puducherry Health department on Friday.

A total of 24,93,538 Covid tests have been conducted so far in the union territory, it said.

It stated further that 10 Covid patients recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 1,74,093 in the UT.

The positivity rate in the UT currently stands at 9.65 per cent while the recovery rate stands at 98.76 per cent, according to the bulletin.

There have been a total number of 1977 deaths till date in Puducherry with zero deaths in the past 24 hours.

Amid a surge in the number of cases, the Puducherry government on Friday issued an advisory and made face masks mandatory for people in public places.

"Wearing face masks in public places is mandatory in Puducherry," District Collector E.Vallavan said.

On the other hand, Puducherry Chief Minister Natesan Krishnasamy Rangasamy, while taking part in the Covid-19 review meeting held by Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday, said the spread of Covid-19 in Puducherry is under control.

"The spread of corona in Puducherry is under control and the government has taken appropriate measures to prevent its spread," he said in the Puducherry Legislative Assembly while attending the Covid-19 review meeting through video conferencing.

Amid a nationwide upward trend in the COVID cases, Union Health Minister Mandaviya on Friday chaired a review meeting with health ministers of all states and Union Territories through video conferencing.

India on Friday recorded 6,050 new cases in 24 hours while the active case tally stood at 28,303 on Friday.

The COVID-19 cases in India have seen an upward trend in the past few days with the daily fresh infections ranging between 2,994 on April 1 to 3,824 on April 2 and 3,641 on April 3 and 3038 on April 4 and 4,435 on April 5.