Rising COVID Cases Evokes Fear of Fourth Wave: List of States That Mandated Wearing of Masks Recently

Covid fourth wave fear grips India: The sudden surge in COVID-19 cases is mainly witnessed in Delhi and neighboring regions of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh which soon made masks compulsory in public.

COVID Fourth Wave: Amid fresh COVID-19 concerns in different parts of the country and apprehensions of a possible fourth wave of the pandemic, several states, and governments have made wearing a face mask mandatory again. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also interacted with state chief ministers on the emerging COVID-19 situation in the country. Following the meeting, PM Modi directed authorities to remain alert as challenges related to the pandemic had not yet gotten over. “Despite managing the Covid crisis, as compared to other countries, we can see cases’ uptick in states now. We have to stay alert. It’s clear that the Covid challenge has yet not been surpassed,” said PM Modi.

The sudden surge in COVID-19 cases is mainly witnessed in Delhi and neighboring regions of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh which soon made masks compulsory in public. Many other states and regions like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Mumbai, and Gurugram have also mandated the wearing of masks in public places and announced fines in case of violations.

List of States/Regions that have Mandated Masks Amid Spike in COVID cases:

• Delhi: Amid a sharp spike in coronavirus cases in the national capital in the past few days, masks have been made mandatory last week. The Arvind Kejriwal-led government has also announced that violators will have to pay ₹500 fine. Delhi has been recording over 1,000 fresh COVID cases for around a week now. On Tuesday, Delhi reported 1,204 fresh COVID-19 cases and one fatality, while the positivity rate stood at 4.64 percent, according to data shared by the health department here on Tuesday.
• Haryana: In Haryana, the mandatory mask-wearing rule has been issued for Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonipat and Jhajjar districts. Earlier last week, Health Minister Anil Vij said that each person has to wear a face mask while being in public places and at the workplace.
• Uttar Pradesh: The Yogi Adityanath government made it compulsory for people to wear a face mask in public places in the capital city of Lucknow and six NCR districts- Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Baghpat.
• Punjab: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led state government on Thursday issued an order, asking people to once again start wearing masks, particularly in public places including closed environments (buses, trains, cinema halls, shopping malls, etc.)
• Kerala: On Wednesday (April 27), CM Pinarayi Vijayan-led Kerala government mandated the wearing of masks and announced that violation shall be punishable.
• Telangana: After dropping the rule earlier in April, the Telangana government has also made it mandatory again to wear face masks. And in case of violation, a person will be fined an amount of ₹1,000.
• Tamil Nadu: The Tamil Nadu government has also enforced the wearing of masks in public places. Non-compliance with the rule is punishable with a fine of ₹500, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said.
• Karnataka: With Covid-19 cases on the rise, the Karnataka government, too, on Monday, made face masks compulsory in public areas.
• Andhra Pradesh: A Rs 100 fine will be imposed on people found without a mask in public.

On Wednesday (April 27), India recorded 2,927 fresh infections in a day which pushed the case tally to 4,30,65,496 while the active caseload increased to 16,279, according to Union Health Ministry data on Wednesday. Even though cases have risen in Mumbai too, the state government has not issued an order on the issue yet. On Tuesday, Mumbai reported 102 fresh COVID-19 cases, the highest one-day rise after February 27 this year, taking the tally of infections to 10,59,433, the city civic body said. On Monday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray appealed to the people to keep wearing masks as the COVID-19 threat is not yet over. Highlighting that although the government has relaxed the mandatory mask rule, but has not given full freedom from it, Thackeray had said that everyone should keep on wearing masks until the chief minister and the deputy chief minister take away their masks.