Gurgaon: Fines issued by the police for not wearing a mask outdoors, which is mandatory because of the pandemic, saw a steep 63% drop in January when only 6,411 people were penalised, the lowest since July 2020 and by a distance.
Doctors and public health experts see this as a worrying sign – a lowering of the guard is exactly what they caution against because it’s easy for complacency to creep in when cases are low, allowing the infection to pick up pace again.
Police, however, say fewer fines have nothing to do with complacency, but a result of better compliance on the road. “We issued fewer challans in the months of December and January compared to November as people are wearing masks in crowded areas,” said Gurgaon police spokesperson Subhash Boken.
There is a wide gap between December and January numbers. Police issued 17,510 challans for not wearing a mask in December, which is nearly three times the January number. In November, 28,728 challans were handed out. The February challan trend is slower than January’s – till February 12, only 1,218 people were fined.
The health department is not as sure about compliance as the police is. “We have observed a steep decline in the number of challans issued in Gurgaon related to the use of face masks. This shows that agencies responsible for enforcing Covid-appropriate behaviour are unable to implement the law properly,” said a senior health department officer.
Dr Virender Yadav, the chief medical officer of Gurgaon, warned of another spike in cases around mid-March. “We are expecting cases to rise in mid-March. India is the only country in the top five affected countries that has not seen a second wave. Every other country has seen a second wave.” The changing weather, he said, would be a factor. “We are expecting cases to go up by mid-March because the region will witness a rise in temperature and because people have become casual,” Dr Yadav added.
Doctors said people should take vaccines when available and urged healthcare and frontline workers to get themselves inoculated. “Currently, there is no indication of a surge in cases. However, as we have seen in western countries, Covid may surge in waves and we have to be very careful and maintaining social distancing, avoid crowded areas and wear masks properly because the threat of Covid is not over yet,” said Dr Manoj Goel, director, pulmonology, at Fortis Memorial Research Institute.
The average number of cases reported per day has seen a sharp drop in January (43) and February (21) compared to December (216). Positivity rate, which stood at 8% on December 31, fell to 2.5% on January 31 and is currently 0.6%.
While this is an encouraging sign, doctors say risk of infection remains high if one doesn’t wear a mask and follow social distancing. Dr Arunesh Kumar, HOD, Paras Chest Institute, said, “People not wearing masks and not observing Covid-appropriate behaviour are at increased risk of infection. Viral mutation also poses a risk. It is, therefore, important to not to let the guard down.”