Mumbai: Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope on Saturday clarified that the state has not made masks mandatory in public places, even as the state has seen a spike in cases in the past week and recorded over 1,000 cases four days in a row.
“The Covid-19 task force met this week and it was decided to appeal to the citizens to use masks both in crowded places as well as closed places like buses, trains, schools and offices. This is an appeal and we have not made masks compulsory till now,” Tope said in Pune.
Tope’s clarification comes after a letter written by additional chief secretary (public health) Pradeep Vyas on Friday, which was addressed to district collectors and stated: “Mask in closed public spaces like trains, buses, cinemas, auditoriums, offices, hospitals, colleges, schools is a must.”
Tope said that the word “must” created confusion and added that the government was making an “appeal” to the people, and it had not made masks compulsory just yet.
On Saturday, Vyas wrote another letter to district authorities and directed them to “encourage” people to wear masks in crowded spaces. “People should be encouraged to wears masks in trains, buses, theatres, offices, schools, universities and dispensaries,” a release on Vyas’ letter stated.
Maharashtra recorded 1,357 Covid-19 cases on Saturday, with Mumbai accounting for 889 of them. The daily test positivity rate was 4.36 %, with 31,083 tests conducted in the preceding 24-hour period. On Friday, the state’s daily test positivity rate was 9.74% with 26,285 tests conducted in the preceding 24-hour period. In Mumbai, the daily TPR was 8.66% on Saturday, with 10,257 tests carried out in preceding 24 hours. The hospitalisation rate however remained low with only 154 of the total 24,471 beds, occupied.
This is the fourth day in a row when the number of fresh cases crossed 1,000. To be sure, the testing rate in the city has declined overall — a fact that Vyas also pointed out in his letter to district authorities on both days.
“Seeing the surge in the last few days, we need to take special efforts to speed up testing and vaccination,” Vyas said, and added that the World Health Organisation standard was 980 tests per 10 lakh population, every week. Of these, 60 % should be RT-PCR tests. He asked the authorities to hold meetings with testing laboratories and ensure that the infrastructure be readied.
“There has been some increase in positive cases in limited cluster areas like Mumbai, Pune, Thane, and Palghar districts, leading to the hike in India’s active cases. Thus, we appeal to the public to wear masks in areas of surge. Masks should be worn in closed spaces like buses, schools, railways, and offices. This is not mandatory; therefore, no fine is imposed,” Tope said on Saturday, speaking to media.
“Despite the surge in cases, there are hardly any hospitalization cases. Patients are getting well within eight days due to their immunity. We will study this situation for the next 15-20 days and then take a decision on whether to make masks mandatory or not,” Tope said.
The Union government on Friday directed five states, including Maharashtra, which were reporting a rise in Covid-19 cases to take prompt steps in tracking new clusters and adhere to the Centre’s five-fold strategy of test-track-treat-vaccinate and ensure Covid-appropriate behaviour.
In a letter addressed Vyas, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan pointed out that a rise was noticeable in the state’s weekly positivity rate from 1.5% to 3.1% in the past week and that its “higher contribution to lndia’s cases [indicated] a possibility of a localized spread of infection”.
Vyas, in turn, wrote to district collectors asking that Covid-19 testing be increased. The shortfall in the number of weekly tests conducted was a “major point of concern,” he wrote. It was in this letter that Vyas said masks were a “must” in public places.
Even as there has been spike, use of mask among citizens in most parts of the state including Pune has fallen drastically with barely anyone seen wearing them in malls, cinema theatre and other commercial places.
Considering the low compliance of mask guidelines in the state, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar last week had said that masks may be made mandatory if the spike in cases continued.
Dr Wiqar Shaikh, professor of medicine at Grant Medical College said that the mask mandate was essential. “Since the situation is deteriorating, the state needs to make masks compulsory and stress on Covid-19 appropriate behaviour. People will not wear masks and indulge in Covid-19 appropriate behaviour till it is made compulsory and fines are imposed for violation of this rule.”
The mask mandate was removed starting April 1. Before this, any person found not wearing a mask in public places was fined ₹200.