From Delhi to Kerala: States and UTs that have reimposed Covid-19 mask mandate

From Delhi to Karnataka — several states and Union Territories, which had earlier eased several Covid restrictions, reimposed protocols and stepped up testing due to the surge in cases.

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Here are the states/UTs that have reimposed mask mandates

Delhi

Last week, the Delhi government announced that it was making masks mandatory once again, with a fine of Rs 500 in case of a violation. The state government’s decision came after India’s R-value — an indicator of how quickly a disease is spreading in the population — increased to over 1 for the first time since mid-January.

Fines for not wearing masks were lifted on April 2, when the city recorded 131 cases.

Haryana

Amid a surge in cases, Haryana decided to make the wearing of face masks mandatory once again in four of its districts bordering Delhi — Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sonipat and Jhajjar.

“We have conducted a survey and found that only Gurgaon has reported maximum cases and a few have been detected in Faridabad. Therefore, wearing of face masks has been made mandatory in four districts — Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sonipat and Jhajjar. More than half of the districts of Haryana have zero Covid-19 cases. Patients in most of the districts are negligible,” said Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij said earlier this month. The state has also said that it will ramp up its daily testing.

Punjab

The AAP-led Punjab government on Thursday issued an advisory making mask wearing mandatory in public places across the state. The Punjab government said wearing face masks is compulsory in all closed environments, including public transport, cinema halls, offices, schools and shopping malls.

Punjab makes wearing of face masks in public places mandatory pic.twitter.com/zesTOmnNH2

— ANI (@ANI) April 21, 2022

Telangana

Less that a month after dropping its mask mandate, Telangana decided to reimpose the mask rule this week. Officials urged people o use masks, particularly if attending large gatherings.

Uttar Pradesh

Two weeks after lifting the mandatory provision of wearing masks in public places, the Uttar Pradesh government Monday issued fresh guidelines making masks compulsory again in five districts of the National Capital Region (NCR) as well as state capital Lucknow.

Kerala

The Kerala government Wednesday issued orders making masks mandatory in public places, work places, gatherings and during transport, after taking note of the Covid-19 scenario at the national as well as state levels.

The order, issued by the chief secretary in his capacity as the chairman of the state disaster management authority, said non-compliance would be punishable under provisions of Disaster Management Act and other rules in force.