Mask made mandatory in Maharashtra amid rise in covid cases

Amid a rise in Covid-19 cases, an order was issued by the state government asking citizens to wear masks in public places except open spaces. The decision was taken after Maharashtra reported a surge in Covid cases.

The state government expressed concern over the rising number of Covid cases to the district authorities. Additional Chief Secretary, Dr Pradeep Vyas, in a letter to all district authorities, gave out several orders including ones for mandating the wearing of masks in public places.

“Mask in closed public spaces like trains, buses, cinemas, auditoriums, offices, hospitals, colleges, schools is a must,” he said.

In his letter, Vyas wrote, “After seeing a sustained decline in the number of Covid-19 cases in the state over the last couple of months, cases have started slowly but steadily increasing and the daily cases have crossed 1,000 for the first time after 3 months on, 1 June, 2022. Currently, Mumbai Metropolitan Region and Thane are seeing a surge in Covid-19 cases but with positivity rate increasing in other districts (Annexure-1), we can expect an increase in cases in other districts as well.”