Ranchi: A day after chief minister Hemant Soren voiced his concern over rising Covid cases in Ranchi and Jamshedpur , the Ranchi district administration launched a drive from the GEL Church here to ensure every person wears a mask at all times in public places.
On Wednesday, Ranchi alone accounted for 45 of the 82 fresh Covid cases recorded in the state. The city accounts for 373 of the 599 active Covid cases in Jharkhand — the figure had fallen below below the 200-mark to 198 on February 5.
The move also came after state health secretary K K Soan on Wednesday directed all deputy commissioners of the state to launch intensive campaigns on Covid-appropriate behaviour to ensure use of mask, sanitizers and social distancing in their respective districts.
While launching the ‘No Mask-No Entry’ drive, deputy commissioner Chhavi Ranjan asked shop owners to follow ‘SMS (Social distancing, Masking, Sanitizing)’ protocols. Addressing the members of GEL Church Shop Owners’ Association, Ranjan said, “The district administration alone cannot beat coronavirus until people support us in the fight. The only solution for is to follow appropriate Covid behaviour.”
He said, “It has been noticed that people have become relaxed and aren’t taking Covid-19 seriously due to the ongoing vaccination drive. The government has provided relaxations in rules for normalising life by allowing operations of cinema halls, shopping malls, restaurants and others with a few conditions and we need to ensure that they are being followed in toto.”
The area of focus during Ranjan’s visit was jewellery, footwear and fabric shops where he asked the shopkeepers to ensure sanitisation of all visitors and employees at regular intervals. “Jewellery items, footwear, and fabrics are items that are touched by several people, which increases the chances of the infection spreading,” he said, adding the administration will soon slap fines if violations continue.
Meanwhile, police were found warning people not wearing masks at Albert Ekka Chowk, Lalpur Chowk and other junctions of city.