Amid Surge In COVID Cases, Maharashtra Govt Likely To Make Face Masks Mandatory
Mumbai: Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Sunday that the state government may make it mandatory for people to wear face masks if COVID cases continue to rise.
He said, ‘If the cases of Covid-19 continue to rise, then we will have to make it mandatory to wear masks.
Stating that his aim is to expedite the vaccination programme, he assured that all possible steps would be taken to ensure immunization, especially among children in the state.
“So far, we have asked people to wear it voluntarily, but if it (Covid cases) increases then we have to think about it,” he said.
Tope assured that he is constantly monitoring the situation of Covid in the state and this time he is inclined towards vaccination of children.
He said, “We are monitoring the situation in the state – our focus is to promote immunization for children in the state. The vaccination program will start soon, it will be difficult for us but we will make every possible effort to complete the task,” he added.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has so far exceeded 189.17 crores (1,89,17,69,346); Out of which more than 2.90 crores (2,90,98,946) adolescents have been given the first dose of vaccine against COVID-19.
According to the ministry, India’s active caseload currently stands at 19,092, with active cases accounting for 0.04 per cent of the country’s total positive cases.
Currently, India’s COVID recovery rate is 98.74 per cent as 2,876 patients have been cured in the last 24 hours and the cumulative number of recovered patients (since the start of the pandemic) is now 4,25,36,253.
With 3,324 new cases reported in the last 24 hours, the country has observed a total of 4,71,087 COVID-19 tests being conducted. So far, the country has conducted over 83.79 crores (83,79,13,110) cumulative tests.
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