The Punjab government on Thursday advised residents to wear masks in crowded places, saying that coronavirus cases were increasing in some states, reported ANI.
In an advisory, state Home Secretary Anurag Verma said that masks should especially be worn in closed areas such as public transport, cinema halls, shopping malls, departmental stores, classrooms, office rooms, indoor gatherings, among others.
Coronavirus cases in India have surged with the country recording 2,380 new infections on Thursday, government data showed. The cases had remained below 2,000 since March 19 but crossed the mark on Monday when the country registered 2,183 new Covid-19 infections.
On Wednesday, Punjab had reported 30 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking its infection tally to 7,59,334 since the pandemic broke out in the country in January 2020, PTI reported. No fresh deaths were recorded in the state.
Several states had announced that wearing masks were no longer necessary after the Union home ministry had decided to end all Covid-19 containment measures from March 31.
However, as cases began increasing, several of these states re-imposed the mask mandate. Delhi made wearing masks compulsory on Wednesday.
On Monday, Uttar Pradesh made face covers mandatory in Lucknow and six districts that are part of the National Capital Territory. On the same day, Haryana also said wearing masks was compulsory in Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonipat, and Jhajjar districts, all of which border Delhi.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Union government had advised Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Mizoram and Delhi to take preventive action to control the spread of the coronavirus infection.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan had advised residents of these states to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour and wear masks in crowded areas.
The Union health secretary had also told Delhi and the other states to follow a risk assessment-based approach while deciding to open economic and social activities.
Delhi on Wednesday had recorded 1,009 new Covid-19 cases and one death due to the disease. The number of cases was 59.65% higher than Tuesday’s tally of 632 cases. The number of coronavirus cases on Wednesday was the highest since February 10, when the Capital had registered 1,104 new infections.
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