Maharashtra Govt Says Will Not Relax Guidelines on Face Mask As COVID Cases Rise in Many Countries

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said looking at the rise in coronavirus cases in many countries, it would not be right to take the risk of doing away with the face mask mandate.

Maharashtra Coronavirus Latest Update: Even as the coronavirus cases are declining in the state, the Maharashtra government on Wednesday made it clear that it will not relax the COVID guidelines on face mask in public places, saying it would be risky to do so as increasing cases are being witnessed in many other countries.

Speaking to news agency PTI, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said looking at the rise in coronavirus cases in many countries, it would not be right to take the risk of doing away with the face mask mandate.

Tope said Maharashtra earlier had reported 46,000 active COVID-19 cases and the number has now come down to 960. Currently, the COVID-19 positivity rate is 0.4 per cent.

Tope further added that looking at the fourth wave in other countries, it is not right to take the take the risk of removing that restriction. “For now, we have not decided to put an end to the mask mandate,” he was quoted as saying by PTI.

He said that many restrictions imposed earlier to contain the spread of coronavirus have been considerably relaxed in the state.

However, he added that the remaining restrictions on travel, entry in malls and compulsory two-dose vaccination have been kept in place to increase the vaccination drive.

Corona cases: ON Tuesday, Maharashtra recorded 103 fresh coronavirus cases, while no new death linked to the infection was registered for the second day. With this, the state’s overall COVID-19 tally rose to 78,73,722, while the death toll remained unchanged at 1,47,780, the state’s health department said in a bulletin.