Masks to be mandatory again in Delhi Rs 500 fine for violators schools to remain open
New Delhi Apr 20 PTI In view of a spike in coronavirus cases in the national capital the Delhi government on Wednesday decided to make the wearing of masks mandatory again in public places and impose a fine of Rs 500 in case of a violationThe decision was taken at a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority DDMA which also decided not to shut schools and come up with separate Standard Operating Procedures SOPs in consultation with experts for themLt Governor Anil Baijal in a series of tweets shared details of the DDMA meeting and saidit was decided to make the wearing of masks mandatory in public places The government is expected to issue an official order regarding the mandatory use of masks soon Fine on not wearing a mask was lifted by the Delhi government on April 2 after the decline in COVID cases in the cityThe DDMA meeting emphasised strict enforcement of the SOPs for schools by the school management concernedIn the larger interest of students in case of non-compliance or violation of SOPs a penalty as deemed appropriate should be imposed for creating a deterrent effect Baijal tweetedOfficials said authorities have been asked to keep a close watch on social gatherings and ramp up testing in the national capitalThey said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is closely monitoring the situation and instructions have been issued to officials to ensure the implementation of steps to check the spread of the virus and preparations for the treatment of COVID patientsIn the DDMA meeting emphasis was also laid on early vaccination of eligible groups as it will help keep in check the impact of the pandemic officials saidSeveral participants asserted that there was no need to panic since the number of hospitalisations was low despite a rise in COVID cases they saidIt was highlighted that the trends of hospitalisation needed to be closely monitored for the next fortnight as well as conducting genome sequencing of all positive samples put through the RTPCR testIt was also decided to increase the number of tests being done with the focus on people with symptoms they saidThe DDMA meeting chaired by Baijal was also attended by Kejriwal Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and other top officials and expertsThe LG advised all the agencies to remain vigilant and work in coordination to tackle the situation as it emergesAccording to official figures there are 9735 beds for COVID patients in Delhi hospitals and just 80 082 per cent of them were occupiedThe health department said 632 fresh cases were reported on Tuesday and the positivity rate was 442 per centThe number of daily COVID-19 cases in Delhi had touched the record high of 28867 on January 13 this year during the third wave of the pandemic The positivity rate had soared to 306 per cent on January 14 the highest during the third wave PTI VIT BUN PYK PYK
New Delhi Apr 20 PTI In view of a spike in coronavirus cases in the national capital the Delhi government on Wednesday decided to make the wearing of masks mandatory again in public places and impose a fine of Rs 500 in case of a violationThe decision was taken at a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority DDMA which also decided not to shut schools and come up with separate Standard Operating Procedures SOPs in consultation with experts for themLt Governor Anil Baijal in a series of tweets shared details of the DDMA meeting and saidit was decided to make the wearing of masks mandatory in public places The government is expected to issue an official order regarding the mandatory use of masks soon Fine on not wearing a mask was lifted by the Delhi government on April 2 after the decline in COVID cases in the cityThe DDMA meeting emphasised strict enforcement of the SOPs for schools by the school management concernedIn the larger interest of students in case of non-compliance or violation of SOPs a penalty as deemed appropriate should be imposed for creating a deterrent effect Baijal tweetedOfficials said authorities have been asked to keep a close watch on social gatherings and ramp up testing in the national capitalThey said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is closely monitoring the situation and instructions have been issued to officials to ensure the implementation of steps to check the spread of the virus and preparations for the treatment of COVID patientsIn the DDMA meeting emphasis was also laid on early vaccination of eligible groups as it will help keep in check the impact of the pandemic officials saidSeveral participants asserted that there was no need to panic since the number of hospitalisations was low despite a rise in COVID cases they saidIt was highlighted that the trends of hospitalisation needed to be closely monitored for the next fortnight as well as conducting genome sequencing of all positive samples put through the RTPCR testIt was also decided to increase the number of tests being done with the focus on people with symptoms they saidThe DDMA meeting chaired by Baijal was also attended by Kejriwal Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and other top officials and expertsThe LG advised all the agencies to remain vigilant and work in coordination to tackle the situation as it emergesAccording to official figures there are 9735 beds for COVID patients in Delhi hospitals and just 80 082 per cent of them were occupiedThe health department said 632 fresh cases were reported on Tuesday and the positivity rate was 442 per centThe number of daily COVID-19 cases in Delhi had touched the record high of 28867 on January 13 this year during the third wave of the pandemic The positivity rate had soared to 306 per cent on January 14 the highest during the third wave PTI VIT BUN PYK PYK
